Future Fern
by Aiyta
Summary: Helga and Gerald argue over the credibility of Grandpa Phil's 'time portal' story, and with Arnold in tow, they decide to go check it out.
1. Tina Park Portals

**Disclaimer: If I owned Hey Arnold, I would be making this into an episode and selling it to you on a shiny disc for $19.99, but I don't and so I'm not. You understand?**

Relevant Info: Set after FTI and after April Fools, no Jungle Movie, they are 5th Graders (10 years old).

_**UPDATE: I am re-doing this story (and finally finishing it!) as of 22/3/13 ... yay! :)  
**__OH, and if anybody would like to do me any art of maybe future Helga & Gerald with the younger Helga, Arnold and Gerald, or future Helga & Arnold with Eleanor, then let me know 'cause I'd love to use it as the picture for the story :)_

* * *

Arnold looked out over Gerald Field with an exasperated sigh, it had now officially been five days since the sixth-graders had successfully taken control of what was rightfully _the fifth graders_ vacant lot and Wolfgang didn't look like relinquishing control anytime soon. Gerald, his best friend, sat beside him flipping through a _Pop Daddy_ comic for what was possibly the eighth or ninth time that day and Arnold was amazed he could still even stand to look at the same pictures so many times over. Not that Arnold could really say much about 'looking at the same thing over and over', except, at least the thing Arnold was watching was actually moving, actually _doing_ something different with each glance. Currently, she was alternating between scowling mercilessly at the sixth-graders, jumping rope and half-watching Harold in his quest to eat another fifty Mr Fudgies before dinnertime.

Prior to this current situation, they had been playing their baseball game on the streets, an old measure they had sadly had to resort to once again. Unfortunately, the closer it came to dinnertime, the more traffic increased and eventually any hopes of finishing their game had been thoroughly dismissed. Helga had stayed determined the longest, typically, but after barely being able to step a foot off the sidewalk for ten minutes straight, she too had admitted that their day of playing ball was certainly over.

Glumly, Arnold and his classmates had sat moping on the Boarding House steps, engaged in various boring and pointless time-passing activities, waiting for something to happen, or at least for dinnertime to finally arrive so they could go home and eat.

"Oh boy, you kids look bored outta ya minds!" Grandpa's voice chuckled from directly behind Arnold, looking out over the forlorn ten-year old faces sitting on the stoop.

Arnold sighed, and motioned forward toward the busy street, "Streets busy, we've got nowhere to play." he explained flatly.

Grandpa settled himself down on the top step, and placed his hand determinedly on his leg, leaning forward to capture the attention of the bored children. "Say, did I ever tell you kids the story of the Hillwood Time Portal?" he asked, with an expectant face, clearly aware that he _hadn't_ and would certainly now be asked to do so.

"No!" Sid cried out impatiently, "What is it?"

Settling back a little bit, Grandpa furrowed his brow as though he were locked in deep thought, and began slowly, "Legend has it that deep beneath the fern trees, where all the ducks gather in Tina Park, lies a powerful time portal!"

"Where does it go?" Gerald asked, now placing his comic down in his lap and paying full attention, after all, there was nothing he liked more than a good urban legend.

"Hillwood Time Portal only ever takes you _one_ place." Grandpa revealed, leaving a slight pause to build the suspense, "Never more, and never less, than fifteen years into the future."

Phoebe blinked a little, and stated quite confidently, "Making us precisely twenty-five years old."

"Exactly, and I'd be ninety seven..." Grandpa said, before stroking his chin and muttering a little, "or dead."

Excitable chatters broke out amongst the group, aside from Helga who was simply rolling her eyes. Arnold wondered briefly why she was always so cynical, not that it was necessarily a _bad_ thing, he simply wondered, just like he wondered a _lot_ of things about Helga G. Pataki.

Grandpa looked to his watch now, and cleared his throat effectively ending the mindless chatter, "Looks like it's almost dinnertime kids, better run along home now."

Initially, there was a sense of hesitation amongst the group, some possibly hoping there was a little more to the story, but eventually everybody agreed that their rumbling stomachs were eager for dinner. Muttering their goodbyes to each other, and then to Arnold, they disappeared in the respective directions of their own homes and Gerald was left sitting on the stoop next to Arnold.

Gerald, who seemed far more excited than Arnold had been expecting, now turned to face him with a look that could only mean one thing, "Arnold, we have got to go check out the time portal man!" he insisted, only serving to confirm Arnold's suspicion that he was about to be roped into another crazy 'urban legend adventure'.

"Hah!" sneered a familiar voice from behind them, causing Arnold to jump a little, her voice just seemed to have that affect, "Those stories are never true." she finished sourly.

"You're just saying that because you're scared, Pataki!" Gerald predictably responded to her cynicism.

Helga rolled her eyes, as though his suggestion was one of the most ludicrous to have ever crossed her ears, "No, Geraldo, I just know that all the old man ever tells is fictional stories." she said, crossing her arms, "Remember the Haunted Train, for example?"

Gerald stood now, and Arnold realised that there was definitely no way he was avoiding being dragged along, "Well, then I guess you won't be scared of stepping into the portal, since you think it's all a _fictional_ story." the tall haired boy challenged the scowling girl with the pigtails.

"Fine, Hair Boy." Helga said coolly, not missing a beat, "I'll go right up to that fern tree... and nothing will happen."

And, with the blink of an eye the two of them were halfway down the street and quickly on their way toward Tina Park, only for both of them to stop suddenly and look back toward the Boarding House expectantly.

"Arnold, aren't you coming man?" Gerald frowned, clearly unsure why Arnold hadn't followed them in the first place.

Helga placed her hands on her hips, "Yeah, Football Head, are you scared or something?"

Arnold considered, briefly, responding to Helga's little insult but decided better of it, it would only serve to cause one of those weird arguments that made him feel all funny. So instead, he just shrugged his shoulders and hurried along after them.

Surprisingly, Helga and Gerald were fairly silent on the short journey toward the park. Or at least that was until they reached the gates and apparently Gerald couldn't hold out any longer on a little jab.

"I hope you do get sucked into the future." Gerald said, gazing over in Helga's direction as they walked through the large green gates, "And can't find your way back."

Helga growled a little at him, shooting him that familiar menacing look, "Not if I don't push you into it first." she warned.

Arnold sighed, "Can you two please stop fighting?" he asked, and he really wasn't _just_ talking about today, "The fern is over there." and he pointed toward the large, sickly looking, fern tree directly ahead of them.

Immediately forgetting their verbal battle, Helga rushed over toward the tree, moving to stand beneath it and Gerald followed her carefully, ensuring to stay on the outside and watch what happened. Helga walked around, did a very fake little twirl underneath the tree, and smirked at Gerald in apparent victory.

"Look _Geraldo_, nothing is happening." she informed him confidently, in her very best 'I told you so' voice.

Gerald frowned, searching the underside of the fern with his eyes, as though he was looking for a big red 'X' or some kind of sign from above. "Maybe you're in the wrong spot." he suggested.

Helga scoffed at him, "Well, I don't see you under here looking for it!" she aptly noted.

Not willing to be outdone, or have anybody find out that he didn't _actually_ stand underneath the tree but Helga did, Gerald shimmied his way through the leaves and walked around underneath the foliage with her. Arnold, figuring he had nothing to lose and nothing more productive to do, followed him in and also began to pace around the tree trunk.

Arnold hadn't been exactly sure how much time had passed, possibly a good five minutes of so, when they all let out a collective sigh and seemed to wordlessly agree that this was, in fact, definitely not a magical time portal when a big fat looking duck waddled toward them, followed by a blinding white flash and light. And then, everything felt numb.


	2. Miss Pataki's Mansion

Arnold blinked twice, his eyelids feeling heavy and his eyes taking a little longer than usual to adjust to the light, he felt almost like he'd been sucked through a vortex. Rolling onto his side a little, he could make out the shape of Gerald's body laying close by on the floor and, with a little blush, he realized the warmth he felt on the _other_ side of him was Helga. Rubbing his eyes, he managed to get a good look and noticed that neither one of them seemed to be entirely conscious at the present moment.

"Figures you'd be the one to wake up first." came a slightly familiar sounding voice from behind him, completely startling him and causing the poor boy to jump a little in fright.

Arnold turned slowly, coming face to face with a tall woman with long blonde hair cascading down to her waist, her smooth pale skin offset with dazzling blue eyes and a professional looking fitted pink dress that clearly matched her manicured nails.

"Sorry." she said with a warm smile, now lifting her fingers from the keyboard of the _very_ slim and compact little computer she had previously been typing on, "I didn't mean to startle you."

Arnold was about to ask this mysterious woman who she was, where they were, and a multitude of other very important questions, when he heard movement from the ground and saw the woman's eyes snap down toward the now moving figures of Helga and Gerald.

"Criminy!" Helga groaned almost immediately, "_Worst_ sleep ever."

Gerald, however, had immediately noticed the strange woman in the room and, after gaining his bearings and managing to stand, his very first question was, "Who are _you_?"

His question now attracted Helga's attention, and her head turned to take in the sight of their mysterious company too, "Yeah." she agreed with Gerald for once, "Who the heck are you?"

Unfazed by the questions, even Helga's very indelicately worded inquisition, the woman simply smiled knowingly at the three and moved forward from behind her desk. "I'm Helga." she stated calmly.

Gerald seemed to need a moment to process this information, but Arnold's eyes had already gone wide and he could see that Helga's jaw had dropped.

"You mean that..." the _younger_ Helga began, almost as though she didn't want to say what she was thinking.

"Yes, I am you." the tall, gorgeous, woman confirmed, "Actually; I'm you in the future, fifteen years in the future."

"Oh no!" Gerald suddenly cried out, now fully aware of the current situation, "_TWO _Helga's!"

Helga, the younger one, had now moved on from shock and apparently into absolute awe, "Wow, tell me about my life!" she all but demanded the futuristic version of herself, taking the time now to peer around the room.

Arnold decided to do the same, and it was no wonder Helga looked so absolutely wowed by everything, the room was spacious and impressive. Helga of the future was clearly incredibly wealthy.

Future Helga eyed her cautiously, but eventually she relented, "I suppose I could take you on a tour of the house." she offered to her younger self.

Almost immediately they walked out into a large foyer area, with high decorated ceilings and solid timber flooring that looked shinier than a display room. Alongside the foyer was a grand staircase, sweeping upwards with a red-carpet running down the center The kitchen was even more impressive, marble bench tops that glistened and golden door handles on each and every cupboard. Arnold wondered if maybe, all things considered, Helga Pataki had grown up to be some kind of famous model, after all, she _had_ been the It Girl.

Future Helga lead them into a large modern lounge room, featuring an incredibly comfortable looking leather lounge suite that was, by all accounts, absolutely huge. Sitting in the very middle of the room, surrounded by brightly coloured toys, was a young toddler with two blonde pigtails and sparkling bright green eyes.

"Gerald, Arnold, younger me... this is my daughter Eleanor." Future Helga informed them with a proud smile, bending to pick the wobbly little pink-clad girl up into her arms.

Eleanor grinned happily, "Hi, I'm Ewenor." she introduced herself confidently, seemingly unaffected by her surprise visitors.

Arnold watched the younger Helga stare unblinkingly, and unbelieving at the adorable little girl. He could hardly imagine how it would feel, meeting your own daughter at just ten years of age, she must have been overwhelmed. Eleanor, in return, seemed just as taken with the younger Helga as she was with her, possibly because they both wore what was probably the _very same_ pink bow in their hair.

Meanwhile, Gerald had managed to recover from his shock a little and was now shaking his head at the sigh before him, "Somebody had babies with Pataki, never thought I'd see the day." he chuckled a little.

"I haven't been a Pataki since I got married four years ago, Geraldo." Future Helga teased back, now flashing a wicked smile at the younger boy.

Blinking a few times, he added, "Somebody _married_ Helga... this is getting ever crazier!"

Arnold now looked, maybe a little expectantly, over toward the younger Helga fully expecting her to have a fantastic witty comeback for that remark from Gerald, but instead she looked to be deep in thought. Actually, over the short course of thirty seconds she looked contemplative, scared and then sad.

Finally, however, the expected snappy comeback was delivered, "Of course I'm married Hair Boy, I _am_ pretty fantastic" she assured him with a cautionary glare, "And I'm sure he's obviously rich... and handsome."

Gerald rolled his eyes, and future Helga let out a small chuckle, "Hmmm, well, my husband is certainly handsome." she said with a smirk, "But, as for rich, you see he's a bit of a wanderer, he's highly qualified but his line of work doesn't pay well."

"Uh, then how exactly do you explain _this_?" Gerald now asked, motioning at the house in general.

"Actually, _I_ paid for this, my books are what makes the money." replied the older Helga, with just as much pride as Arnold might have expected, considering how independent she'd always been, even now at just ten years old.

Younger Helga, however, still seemed very concentrated on things other than who made the money, "Is he wandering right now?" she asked curiously of her husband.

Nodding, future Helga looked down at Eleanor, "Yes, daddy's out exploring right now isn't he baby?" she asked the small girl, to which she eagerly nodded, "And when is daddy coming home, sweetie?"

"Tomowow!" Eleanor immediately cried out, her face lighting up with expectant joy, showing how clearly she had obviously been missing this mysterious father of hers during his most recent departure.

"Hold up!" Gerald cut back in, still a little stuck on something from earlier, "Did you say you write _books_?"

Helga, the older version, now laughed a little at this and shook her head slightly, "Not just books, Geraldo, _best sellers_." and she added coolly, "I wrote the highest selling romance novel of all time, but poetry is more my thing."

Arnold, well, aside from feeling a little overwhelmed in general was forced to blink and take a little step back at that revelation. Of course, the notion of Helga G. Pataki and romance novels was hard enough to process, but _poetry_ as well. However, it was then that he distinctly remembered the words, '_filling volumes of books with poems about you'_ and he found himself trying to remember what came next, when the sound of Gerald's laughter interrupted his thoughts.

"Helga and poetry!" he had managed to blurt out between breaths, while he continued to laugh rather loudly about the entire notion.

Arnold felt a little sorry, or maybe even a lot sorry, for poor Helga, the Helga _their_ age, because she now seemed a little scared and she was even blushing. He wondered if he'd actually ever seen her blush before, it certainly wasn't something his tough as nails classmate did often.

"What about Gerald and me in the future?" Arnold now piped up, hoping to take some of the attention away from Helga's secret talents and subdue Gerald's fit of hysteria a little.

Although, he actually _had_ been wanting to ask that question practically ever since it became obvious that they had indeed found themselves fifteen years in the future. Arnold was curious as to how his life had played out, had he ever found his parents? What about his grandparents, were they still alive? Was he still best friends with Gerald? Did he have a wife? A family?

Future Helga pursed her lips at the question, and rocked Eleanor in her arms a little, seeming to put a great deal of thought into her upcoming answer. "Hmmm... we should take a walk." she finally deduced, rather cryptically, as she placed little Eleanor back onto the lounge room floor and called out to somebody who was obviously in a nearby room, "Gina, I'm heading out for a little bit, I'm leaving Eleanor in your care."

Gina, whoever she was, called back almost immediately, "Yes ma'am."

"Who is Gina?" the younger Helga asked curiously, as future headed for the doorway of her stunningly elaborate home.

Picking up her handbag, future Helga answered, "Oh, a little bit of everything really." and motioned for the children to file out of the front door, as she closed it behind them, "Chef, cleaner, babysitter, all kinds of stuff."


	3. Hair Boy and Helga

Arnold had been incredibly impressed with Helga's house, but now he was even more enthralled with the neighbourhood she lived in, it was some kind of private suburban paradise. Large, expensive, elaborate homes were dotted along the street, with wide open grassy spaces weaving around the generously proportioned blocks. Further down the road, he could see that the street was gated, with a secure entry point and the cobblestone street made everything seem that little bit more exclusive.

Only four or five houses down the street, on the opposite side of the road, future Helga stopped walking and turned to ascend the stairs toward a newly built double story home. Arnold was wondering whether to expect a family member, maybe Olga or even an in-law, or maybe even just a random friendly neighbour, when a tall dark-skinned man with a short afro answered the door.

Older, and incredibly muscular, Gerald first seemed a little shocked at the three young people currently accompanying Helga on his doorstop, but he quickly recovered as though he had possibly known to expect them.

"Hey there!" he greeted the older Helga rather enthusiastically, pulling her in for a tight hug, before looking back at the younger kids.

Younger Gerald was not impressed, "Why was I just hugging Helga Pataki?" he winced, eyeing his future self like some kind of evil clone.

Gerald of the future simply chuckled at the remark, "Good to see you again, ten year old me!" he said playfully, "And you better watch yourself, she's not a Pataki anymore."

"Yeah, yeah, that doesn't answer my question!" he grumbled a little at his older self, and younger Helga who was standing next to him looking equally unimpressed, also seemed expectant on receiving a _very _good reason for what they had just witnessed.

Sighing, future Gerald rolled his eyes a little, "Helga and I became close friends during high school." he explained.

Equal measures of disappointed groans were immediately heard from both the younger Gerald and the younger Helga, who had now looked toward each other in slight horror. Arnold was just beginning to think how they only ever seemed to agree, when they were disagreeing about agreeing when he heard distinct gargling noises coming from Gerald's hallway. Younger Gerald and Helga must have heard it to, because they snapped out of their disapproving stares and directed their attention on the small child now crawling up to the older Gerald.

Gerald bent down to pick the small boy up, his coffee coloured skin complimenting his very dark curly hair, "Uh guh... guh!" he babbled, waving his arms around a little.

"Gerald, this is your future son, Phoenix." the older Gerald said with a smile, motioning for his younger self to come closer and take a look at his very own future baby child.

Gerald, looking much the same as Helga had toward Eleanor, stared at the tiny boy in absolute awe and Arnold couldn't help but hope they met _his _family soon, and that he might have a small future kid to meet.

"I need your help to get these kids back home." Helga, the older one, now sighed, looking toward Gerald and lowering her voice a little before adding, "Especially before _tomorrow_."

The older Gerald seemed to completely understand her concerns, and nodded knowingly at her. "Okay." he began thoughtfully, "What we need to do first is remember what happened that day when we found the time portal.

"I still remember where the portal was located." Future Helga informed him, but she didn't look incredibly confident, in fact she was biting her lip and looking rather concerned, "_But_ I know the fern tree is no longer there."

Shrugging his shoulders, and seeming just about as cool, calm and collected as ever future Gerald suggested levelly, "I guess we just go back to the original location and search for something that might help us."

"Alright." came the nod of approval from the older Helga, who now glanced over at the garage by Gerald's house, "We'll take your car?"

Rolling his eyes at that, as though hijacking his car was something Helga tended to do rather often, future Gerald nodded and leant backward into the house for a moment, "Ingrid, I'll be out for a whole, I'm leaving Phoenix with you." he announced, to the short brunette woman dusting in the living room.

Ingrid, who looked up and nodded her head in understanding, scooped little Phoenix up and carried him off down the corridor whilst Gerald grabbed a set of keys from the hallway table. Two buttons later and the automated garage doors were slowly lifting, and a sparkling black Mercedes flashed its headlights twice to indicate it had been unlocked.

Future Gerald, motioning for the children to head over to the car, jumped into the front seat himself and got comfortable whilst future Helga slipped into the passenger side.

"Woah, this is so cool." Gerald, younger Gerald, smiled at Arnold as they climbed into the back of his future car and across the soft leather seats.


	4. East Side

Gerald's black Mercedes drove quietly through town, and Arnold looked out over the city of Hillwood from the window in the backseat. Helga and Gerald's neighborhood turned out to be situated in the East of the town, a recent development for certain as Arnold knew that back in the present day that area was a train yard. It surprised him, however, to note that aside from new, wealthy developments in the East, everything else in Hillwood looked to have remained much the same.

Arnold wondered if the neighborhood might have been the same because of him, maybe in the future he'd saved the neighborhood more than once. Actually, more to the point, maybe in the future _Helga_ was still saving the neighborhood That thought drew his attention from the city streets, and over to the ten year old Helga Pataki, who was stealing inquisitive glances at her older self, in between staring out the windows.

He couldn't fault her for being so curious about the fifteen years older version of herself, Helga whoever she was now, was beautiful and talented. Much like the person Arnold had always _known_ she must be, deep down, but didn't show. Much like the Helga who had grabbed hold of his arms on the rooftop of FTI and...

"Tell me more about my future life!" younger Helga's voice now startled Arnold from his daydreaming, or rather his memories.

Gerald, the ten year old version sitting in the backseat, shook his head at her, "No way Pataki, you already know lots, what about _me_ in the future?" and he shuffled forward expectantly toward the driver's seat, ready for his older self to begin dishing out information.

"I haven't even met my future self yet!" Arnold protested, "What's my life like?"

Yet again, his questions were met with a concerned stare from the future Helga, and likewise future Gerald seemed a little hesitant to respond.

"Well, let me see, your grandparents are ninety seven now and they still own the boarding house." future Gerald revealed, "Although, Mr Kokoschka practically runs the place now."

Arnold raised an eyebrow at that particular comment, and felt a little confused by the concept, "_Oskar?_" he asked, just to check they were in fact talking about the same man.

Future Gerald chuckled a little at his reaction, "Suzie had their daughter back when we were twelve and, it took him a while, but eventually he really stepped up, he's a pretty decent guy these days." he explained.

Rather than doubting Mr Kokoschka, Arnold was now pleased and assured that one day over the coming years he was finally going to take on his responsibilities. However, it then occurred to him that if Oskar was running the Boarding House, Arnold probably didn't live there anymore, "Do I still live there?" he wondered out loud, "At the Boarding House?"

"Practically." future Helga spoke up, with a little grin, "But not officially."

Arnold took a moment to ponder that response, or rather what that response actually meant. As he thought this through, the older Gerald pulled his car into a large parking lot by the park entry gates and hopped from the car to open the doors for his younger passengers.

"Where _do_ I live then?" Arnold finally spoke up, as he jumped out of the car closely followed by the younger Gerald and Helga, "Do I have a family too?"

Future Gerald nodded at him, "Yeah, you have a wife and one child."

Arnold felt a little better now, because it seemed highly unfair for Gerald and Helga to have fancy homes and families if he didn't have at least _something_, and now he was assured that he did. Still, he was just as curious as Helga and Gerald about his future life, and he had so many more questions, "What's their names?" he asked the two older versions.

"Uhh..." future Gerald frowned a little, hesitating at the question and shooting a look to the older Helga who looked just as concerned about the situation.

"Enough about Football Head!" demanded younger Helga's voice from beside Arnold, making him jump again, and silently wonder how the heck her voice could keep _doing_ that to him, "What about our _other_ friends?"

Future Helga and Gerald seemed rather pleased, maybe even a little relieved, at the small blonde girls interruption of the conversation. Arnold settled for shooting her an annoyed look, but didn't bother to object to the subject change, and ten year old Helga rolled her eyes at him a little... which was kind of cute.

"Alright mini-Helga, what friends do you want to know about?" future Gerald asked playfully, raising an expectant eyebrow at the girl.

"Pheebs." younger Helga responded almost instantly, "What's she doing in the future?"

Gerald, the older one, went wide eyed for a little moment, and then proceeded to avert his gaze elsewhere which left the older Helga to answer the inquiry that had come from her younger self. "Phoebe is a Paediatric Specialist." she said with a smile, "She works at Hillwood Medical Centre."

However, younger Helga looked a little nervous still, and she hesitated before asking very hopefully, "Are we still best friends?"

"Of course." future Helga assured her quickly, putting a smile on the younger girls face, "I follow her around all the time for story inspirations, even when she gets annoyed and calls me a stalker."

By this point now they were quickly approaching the pond and across the water, sitting happily together on a decorative wooden bench, Arnold spotted two distantly familiar faces. Cutting younger Helga off before she had time to reply to future Helga's previous comment, Arnold asked a little bewildered, "Is that Sid?" and pointed toward the man on the bench with dark spiky hair.

Younger Helga scowled at him first for a moment, but then she too looked over toward the two people and added, with just as much curiosity, "And _Nadine_?"

"Sure is." future Gerald smirked, waving over toward them and calling out as they approached, "Hey Sid, hey Nads! Say hello to a blast from the past." and he motioned toward the three younger kids following close behind.


	5. Gifaldi and Robinson

Sid Gifaldi, fifteen years older and far taller, looked the three younger versions of his friends up and down with wide eyes, "Boy howdy!" he exclaimed after a moment, looking at them curiously, "What grade are you guys in?"

"Fifth grade." younger Gerald spoke up in response, his eyes flicking between the future Sid and Nadine with great interest.

Nadine smiled, "Oh of course!" she said, motioning toward the younger Helga, "Helga's hair is still in pigtails."

Putting a protective hand to her golden hair, younger Helga frowned a little at Nadine, "Uh, what do my pigtails have to do with what grade I'm in?" she asked, a little confused.

"Oh, in sixth grade you started wearing your hair down." Nadine informed her sweetly, which caused the younger Helga to blink in shock a little and send a strange glance to the older Helga, "Actually, why _did_ you change your hairstyle in sixth grade, Helga?" Nadine continued, now looking over toward the older Helga inquisitively.

Future Helga grinned, her eyes seemed unfocused for a little while, "Oh, reasons." was all she cared to say, apparently unwilling to elaborate on the situation.

Gerald, the younger version, was not nearly as interested in Helga's change of hairstyle as everybody else seemed to be, in fact he was still looking between Sid and Nadine questioningly. "Are you two married?" he now piped up, eyeing their tightly intertwined hands resting in Sid's lap.

Sid chuckled a little, "No, we're not married." he said with a smile, "Not _yet_ anyway."

"Sid!" Nadine giggled a little beside him, shooting him a playful look, before turning back toward the younger Gerald and explaining, "We've only been together for a few months; I don't think we'll be walking down any aisles _too_ soon."

"Arnold helped set us up, actually." Sid mentioned casually.

Arnold felt Gerald, the one his age, give him a little pat on the back, "That's my man." he grinned, "Always helping people... even in the future!"

"Arnold's the go-to man for relationship advice." Nadine said happily, looking over at Sid and future Gerald who both nodded their heads in agreement.

"Me?" Arnold blinked, a little surprised by that, considering that at this young stage of his life girls had never exactly been a strong point to say the least, "Why me?"

Future Gerald rolled his eyes a little, "Ain't no secret that _everybody _in town is jealous of your marriage, my man." he assured Arnold with a shake of his head, "Except me of course... that would just be weird."

"_Huh?_" was all Arnold could manage in response, because it was a little daunting to find out that fifteen years into the future, you were apparently one half of some kind of super-marriage, not that it was a bad thing _at all_, just a lot to take in.

Nadine giggled at his apparent shock, "I swear, it's just the cutest thing, like blissful newlyweds all the time."

Sid chuckled beside her, "Yeah, until it starts making everybody sick." he teased.

Future Gerald nodded enthusiastically, apparently in complete agreement, "Oh yeah, like when we're at dinner somewhere are they just can't keep their hand _off_ of each other." he sighed in frustration.

Arnold, who was trying very hard to take in all of this crazy information, suddenly heard the younger Helga scoff loudly next to him and turned to see her crossing her arms with a frown on her face.

"Football Head makes everyone sick, what else is new?" she said in a sneering tone that made Sid and Nadine blink in shock a little, "Why do you losers even care about him and his equally sickening wife?"

Poor Nadine and Sid, who quite clearly hadn't heard a Helga outburst of this nature for quite a number of years, looked a strange mix between shocked and confused at the current moment. Even future Gerald was frowning a little at her. Meanwhile, the older Helga had a completely different look on her face; actually, she looked pretty sad.

"Shut up, Helga." Arnold found himself growling at her in return, for no logical reason other than the fact that Helga tended to bring out that angrier side of him, "I think you're just annoyed because _your_ future husband isn't even home right now!"

Helga, with her arms tightly crossed and her eyes narrowed menacingly, did not take that comment very well whatsoever, not that he'd expected her to. "Yeah?" she shot back angrily, her eyes shimmering a little, "That doesn't mean he's any less amazing than your stupid wife, he's probably actually doing something _useful_."

Arnold blinked, and came back to reality a little, because he noticed that between the blistering anger she looked a little, well, _hurt_. Sure, she might have started the argument, and she wasn't being very fair, but the last thing he wanted to do was upset her.

Luckily, before the situation could worsen, or Arnold could attempt any lame apology that would only get him into more trouble, Sid spoke up, looking at the young children with a rather bewildered expression, "Do they not-"

Helga, the older one, immediately interrupted whatever it was he was about to say, however, with a loud clearing of her throat and a very definitive shake of her head. Sid became absolutely quiet, and instead looked over at Nadine.

"Oh, uh, we should get going!" Nadine now suddenly decided, after watching the particularly strange procession of events unfold, and with that she stood from the bench and pulled Sid along after her, "We'll see you soon Gerald and Helga, and it was good to see you again little Helga, Gerald and Arnold."

"Yeah." Sid piped up with a smile, "Don't stick around too long though, fifth grade me is probably having a panic attack about your disappearance as we speak!"

Nadine chuckled a little at that, and they both waved goodbye and headed off down the park walkway.

"See ya, guys." future Gerald called out after them as they went.

Arnold could faintly hear, as they disappeared into the distance, Nadine say to Sid, "Oh, that's just going to be hilarious." and in response, Sid simply laughed.

Along the edge of the pond, future Helga now had a grim look on her face as she looked over toward where the fern certainly used to stand along the waters edge. Just as she had expressed before, it was now gone and in its place was an open grassy area for sitting. While Helga stood frowning at the scenery change, future Gerald was wandering along the banks of the pond, toward the space that the tree used to occupy.

"Uh, it's hopeless." the older Helga groaned, placing her hands on her hips just like she always had in times of distress.

Arnold, feeling the current attitude toward the problem would never help them, tried to offer some encouragement, "I'm sure we will be able to figure it out if we all work together." he assured them, and immediately felt the gaze of two Helga's set upon him.

Helga, the younger one, was shooting him a very unpleasant glare, and the Helga of the future had simply rolled her eyes at the comment. "Always the optimist." future Helga remarked rather sarcastically to her younger self, who immediately smirked.

Undeterred by dual disapproval he was currently receiving, Arnold simply directed his next line of thought toward the two Gerald's instead, "Grandpa said in the legend that the portal was deep beneath the fern tree, by the pond in Tina Park... where all the ducks gather..."

Younger Gerald caught on immediately, scanning the expanse of the lake, before deducing rather disappointingly, "Well, I don't see any ducks in this pond."

"Alright." future Gerald now joined in, "So maybe we need to figure out where to find the ducks?"

Future Helga looked rather impressed by this little brainstorming session, and thought about it all for a moment, "I certainly wouldn't know where to find them." she said thoughtfully, "What about you Gerald?"

"Not a clue." the older Gerald responded with a shake of his head, "_But_, ducks are pieces of meat and I think we both know somebody who knows a thing or two about where to find meat."

Eyes lighting up as thought she'd won a prize, future Helga nodded enthusiastically, "Harold!"

Younger Helga shook her head, "Pink Boy still loves his food, hey?"

"Well, he _is_ a butcher." future Helga pointed out with a smile, now waving for the group of kids to follow her lead out the park and toward Vine Street.

Arnold, seeing the current direction they were headed in, had to wonder, "Does he still work with Mr Green?" because they were indeed heading right toward the Vine Street entry of Tina Park, and the Harold _their_ age did very much enjoy his part-time position at Mr Green's shop.

"Actually, Mr Green retired a few years ago and handed the entire shop over to Harold." future Gerald explained as they walked.

Arnold smiled, he enjoyed knowing things looked to be working out so well in the future for all his friends and classmates, "That's great." he said happily, "He must be really happy."

Helga, the ten year old version with the soon-to-be gone pigtails, rolled her eyes at him, "You're such a _sap_ Football Head." she groaned, which caused the future Helga to let out a little chuckle.


	6. Berman

Green Meats of the future looked just about the same as ever, besides a few extra shop fittings and a good fresh coat of paint, it was exactly how Arnold remembered it from the present day. Harold Berman was humming loudly along to the store radio, dipping chicken wings into a thick marinade sauce and appearing about as content with life as possible.

Upon their entry, the door chime gave a distinctive 'ding', another new addition, and the strong looking man with the shaved head peered up from his work.

"Hey guys!" Harold bellowed out merrily as they entered, his eyes then flicking down to the three small children following behind his two friends, "Well if it isn't a blast from the past!"

Helga of the future smiled at him, and Harold pulled her into a warm hug before breaking away and shaking Gerald's hand with a smile.

Arnold noticed that Harold hadn't grown to be quite as tall as either Gerald or Helga, and it was strange to see Harold being shorter than either of them, though he certainly made up for it in muscular bulk. Apparently he had also managed to start wearing shirts that fit him properly, it was certainly an improvement.

Younger Helga, however, was less than impressed by what was apparently another adult friendship with a childhood 'enemy' and had screwed her face up at the tight hug between her older self and the Harold of the future. "Eek!" she protested to her older self, "Quit getting chummy with Pink Boy."

"Oh I sure have _missed_ Helga the bully!" Harold grinned down at her in response, earning himself another head shake, and further scowling from the younger girl.

Helga of the future was now apparently not impressed with him either, and shot him a little glare, "I can still be a bully." she huffed, crossing her arms.

Apparently, Harold found that quite humorous, "Sure." he chuckled, "When your husband's not around to cool that temper of yours."

A knowing nod, and slight snigger, of agreement was now coming from the older Gerald, who almost seemed to be biting his lip a little and willing himself not to say anything further. Arnold figured that was possibly because Helga's husband _wasn't _around right now, so whatever he was planning to say may have earned him a slap... or three.

"Helga G. Pataki cannot be 'cooled' by anyone!" the younger Helga now growled, increasingly unimpressed by their little visit to Green Meats.

Future Gerald, who looked like he was about to explode with laughter, winked a little at the ten year old Helga and said with a smirk, "Now, you know that's not true."

Arnold watched as Helga, the younger one, went wide eyed and seemed to freeze, panic clearly written across her face, and the future Helga clearly noticed it too because she immediately cleared her throat and redirected the attention back to herself.

"I think we can stop tormenting the Helga's now." she informed both older men with a stern expression, that quickly brought their sly smiles to an end, "We're here on more important business."

"Right!" future Gerald blinked, now looking a little guilty for some strange reason, "Harold, do you know where we can find ducks in Hillwood?"

Harold raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not having expected _that_ to be the all important question, "Ducks?" he repeated with confusion, giving himself a moment to think it through, "No, I don't know actually... but Patty does most of my meat pickups these days anyway, and she's around town with the kids all the time, so maybe she will know."

With that he wiped his hand quickly against his apron, clearing off the last of the remaining marinade, and headed toward the stairs at the back of the shop leading to the living area on the upper level.

Younger Gerald was surprised, to say the least, because after blinking in shock once or twice, he asked rather curiously, "Harold and Patty?" like he had been totally thrown by the revelation, and then added a traditional, "Mmmm mmm mmmm..."

"Oh come on Geraldo!" protested the younger Helga, who apparently hadn't been so blind, "Criminy, it was always so _obvious_ they liked each other."

Scoffing, the younger Gerald argued back, "Oh come on, like you know anything about that Pataki!"

Helga narrowed her eyes at that comment, "Uh, news flash Hair Boy, I'm a _romance_ author." she very bluntly pointed out, motioning toward her future self, who simply shrugged at poor younger Gerald in an 'well, she's right' kind of way.

"Oh, yes, Helga sure does know _all_ about Harold!" future Gerald now spoke up, letting out a little laugh and shooting a pointed look at the older Helga.

Without delay, future Helga delivered a swift punch to future Gerald's arm for the comment, along with yet another warning glare, and those two activities earned her a quizzical, and somewhat concerned, look from her younger self.

Future Helga sighed, and apparently realized she was going to have to explain, "I dated Harold during high school." she reluctantly revealed.

"WHAT!" came the shrill, ear-piercing, scream from the younger Helga, who was wearing a look of disgust and disbelief whilst the younger Gerald beside her almost doubled over in laughter.

Arnold, on the other hand, was feeling a little odd right now, something he could possibly describe as intense unease. Okay, so he realized that fifteen years into the future he had a family, and Helga had a family, and that they each had their own separate lives, but seemed to still communicate as friends. However, this hadn't stopped the optimistic, and a little unexpected, thought pop into Arnold's head that it might be nice if he and Helga had dated at least once in their lives, like maybe during high school. Now that was seemingly unlikely, and he was, also unexpectedly, not feeling very comfortable with that.

"It all started in Junior year of high school, Rhonda and I had a big fight over something I can't even remember now, and I decided to plot the ultimate revenge." future Helga began to explain, with a little sigh and shake of the head at the nostalgia, "I happened to know that she had been seeing Harold, so I figured what better way to get payback than to steal her man."

"And it was the most magical and wonderful relationship she's ever had." future Gerald added on, in a sarcastic dreamy voice, his hand clutched to his hand in mock tenderness.

Future Helga scoffed at him, and turned back to face her younger self, "Don't worry, I never even liked him."

Unfortunately, that little comment didn't seem to make anything better, and the younger Helga groaned in horror, "I _hate_ my future." she dramatically proclaimed.

"It was worth it though, Ronda got so mad she slapped me in the hallway, so then _I _pulled her extensions out, she tried to claw me and I tried to punch her nose in, it all lasted a good twenty minutes before we both realised that _neither_ of us had honestly liked Harold." at that point in the story the older Helga practically burst into laughter, "And that was a good thing too, because Harold looked totally relieved, and told us that he'd never really been into us either."

Laughing along with her, the older Gerald nodded his head with a smile, "One of my favourite misunderstandings of all time." he pondered for a moment before adding, "And possibly my favourite girl on girl brawl of all time."

"Gerald!" future Helga objected, possibly looking a little embarrassed by that comment, but she never got the chance to reprimand him any further because at that moment footsteps could he heard from the stairwell.

Patty Smith, or rather Patty Berman, appeared in the doorway to Green Meats, followed closely by Harold and their three children and when she saw the collection of her friends, and their younger selves, standing in the shop she smiled brightly.

"Hello." she said politely, turning her attention immediately in the older Helga's direction, "Harold told me about your question, but to be honest, I've never taken too much notice of the ducks."

"Oh criminy!" was now heard, in unison, from both the older and younger Helga's who looked equally as disappointed by the news.

Patty smirked at the two of them, as everybody else let out a little chuckle, "Well, look at that, Helga you sure haven't changed."

"Hmmm..." future Helga said thoughtfully, "I suppose I really haven't."

Getting back on subject, Patty now looked to be musing over something, "I think if you needed information on animals around town, you might be best off asking Curly, he knows a lot about those kinds of things." and after a brief pause she added, "Maybe _too_ much."

"What's the twisted freak up to in the future anyways?" younger Helga now enquired with a smirk, her classic attitude back and her hands placed firmly on her hips.

Whatever it was, it must have been funny because future Gerald sniggered a little and responded, "Just you wait and see."

Arnold gazed over to his best friend, the ten year old Gerald, and they exchanged looks of concern, given fifteen years of free time who knew what kind of crazy antics Curly Gammelthorpe was up to these days. Arnold certainly was eager to find out, although, it would have been _better_ if he could meet his own future self sometime soon.


	7. Gammelthorpe

Apparently, the Eastern side of the city simply became more and more expensive, and exclusive, the further you drove and around three to five minutes after passing by Gerald and Helga's neighbourhood, the black Mercedes was now entering the realm of a host of ridiculously expansive estates. Arnold wondered when Hillwood became so wealthy, it certainly wasn't _bad_ back in the present day, but it seemed society had gone up several notches over the next decade and a half.

Gerald, who was sitting beside Arnold in the back seat, was paying no attention to the sights out the window and instead he was eyeing down the luxury vehicle they were now riding in for the second time that day. "This is an awesome car, future me!" he said in approval, after stroking the leather seats a few extra times.

"Thanks." his older self grinned in response, peering back at the kids through the rear-view mirror, "It was actually a wedding gift from Helga and, uh, her husband."

Arnold looked at younger Helga, who was still deeply frustrated by the entire concept of her future friendship with Gerald, "You brought a _car_ for Geraldo?" she exclaimed in distaste.

Helga of the future simply smiled back at her younger self, "Sure, Hair Boy and his wife are my best friends."

Gerald and Helga, the ten year olds, immediately turned to each other with great annoyance, and the younger Gerald shook his head a little, "Promise me, Pataki, that we will _never_ become best friends in the future."

"Ugh, agreed!" the younger Helga agreed more than happily, crossing her arms to make her point clear.

Arnold was rather disappointed in this, he was really _liking_ the possibility of everybody getting along in the future and he would have hated for such a thing to be ruined simply because Helga and Gerald were pre-aware of the impending situation. "I think you two could get along just fine if you actually tried." he encouraged them.

However, his comment was met with something a little unexpected, and that was laughter from the _future_ Helga and Gerald in the front seat of the car, who had exchanged a knowing look around about halfway through his sentence.

"Oh man, do you remember how many times we heard Arnold say that during sixth grade?" the older Gerald exclaimed.

Future Helga laughed and nodded, but then held up her hands a little, "_Or_ in middle school, when you started dating, uh, _you know_, and I threatened to murder you in your sleep if you ever messed up." she reminded him.

"Yes!" future Gerald cried out, now laughing even harder, "Wow, the amount of times he tried to get us to sit down together and 'talk out our issues'!"

"And then I..." the older Helga squealed, barely able to talk between the fits of laughter, "I-I clocked you right in the nose!"

Shaking his head, but still laughing along, future Gerald said, "You gave me concussion, Pataki!"

"You see?" future Helga now said in the general direction of the backseat passengers, "_Those_ are the reasons I owed Gerald a fancy car."

Neither the younger Gerald nor Helga seemed entirely convinced with that reasoning, or rather impressed by the stories they'd managed to learn in-between the giggling fits from the front seat, but since they didn't say anything right away, Arnold decided to simply change the subject.

"Wow, this place is... huge." Arnold breathed, looking up at the house situated at the end of the long paved driveway Gerald had just pulled into, and it appeared he must come here often, because a security scanner examined his numberplate and opened immediately.

Just as surprised by the lush green gardens, elaborate fountains and spacious mansion as Arnold had been, future Gerald asked with wonder, "_This_ is Curly's house?" and in response he received a nod from his older self in the driver's seat.

"Guess being a lunatic paid off." the younger Helga muttered as they drew closer to the mansion, which in reality looked far more like an entire country club than a suburban residence.

"Hmmm, something like that." future Helga smirked, jumping out of the car as Gerald pulled it to a stop right in front of the grand staircase extending from the front doors.

Nobody, well none of the younger children, were paying much attention to what the older Helga was saying at that moment though, because somebody had _opened _the front door and was now on their way down to greet everybody. A woman, a thin one with shiny black hair and designer clothes, a women who was very clearly none other than Rhonda Wellington Lloyd.

Rhonda, by the looks of it, was immensely happy to see both Helga and Gerald, but more so Helga, because she wrapped the tall blonde woman in a bone-crushing hug the moment she reached her.

"Helga, darling, I have hardly seen you in over a _week_ and I-" and then, her babbling stopped for a moment, as her eyes drifted down to three young faces, "Oh my gosh! It's the little versions of you!"

Arnold, just to ensure he wasn't completely insane, really had to check something right now, "Wait a moment, you said we were going to Curly's house..." he began slowly, earning nods from all three adults to continue, "So, if this _is_ Curly's house, but it's also Rhonda's house..."

"Then that means that Rhonda and Curly are..." younger Gerald picked up from beside him, probably also wanting to ensure he hadn't gone completely mad.

"Married!" Rhonda squealed, immediately clearing that little fact up for everybody, as she motioned toward a sizable diamond on her left hand, "One year next month!"

Blank facial expressions covered future Gerald and Helga's faces, and Arnold was quite sure his own probably looked incredibly similar. In fact, they were probably wondering the exactly same thing he was, if maybe this was some elaborate joke.

Apparently not, because Rhonda called out blissfully, "Thaddeus!" into the open doorway, her voice echoing throughout the inside of the mansion, and within mere seconds Curly Gammelthorpe was standing behind her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Very, very interesting..." Curly mused as he looked down at the young children standing before him, their faces surely all displaying some kind of strange bewilderment.

First to break from the little trance that had been set in motion, was Helga, who could no longer hold in the hilarity, "Rhonda and Curly!" she exclaimed, practically doubling over in laughter.

Younger Gerald simply shook his head, "I tell ya, the future is a crazy place." he muttered, still too shocked to laugh.

"Oh, little Gerald darling, things change." Rhonda explained with a roll of her dark eyes, "_Surely_ this was not as surprising as finding out th-"

"So, we're here for Curly's help!" future Helga swiftly interrupted whatever it was that Rhonda was about to say.

Rhonda, in return, flashed her a rather mischievousness smirk, "Oh, so we're keeping that one a secret are we. Fair enough." and then her face became serious again, "What did you require Thad's help with?"

Arnold noted that whatever disagreement, and possible tensions, had ensued from the Junior-year Harold debacle between the two was clearly water under the bridge, because they actually seemed to be rather close friends. In fact, the older Helga shot Rhonda an appreciative look for keeping whatever secret she was apparently hiding, and the focused her attentions back on the problem at hand.

"Actually, we need to know where to find the ducks in Hillwood." the future Helga explained, "If we find the ducks, we may be able to find the portal that'll get these kids back to their own time."

Curly flashed her a grin, "Ah, want them gone before _tomorrow_ by any chance Helga?" he chuckled deeply, and was met with a firm look that suggested he quickly drop the topic and not expect an answer to his question.

Rolling his eyes at her, Curly went along with the silent demand, "Let me think, the ducks liked the fern tree in the park, I spent many afternoons there but then they cut it down, oh and _shame_ on the governmental system for that!" he proclaimed wildly, then settled down once more and continued, "Recently, I have seen them at the pier but I must admit, I have not visited with the ducks in weeks, I have been at the zoo recently."

Arnold saw both Helga's let out a sigh and roll their eyes at him for the zoo comment and he assumed they were probably thinking something along the lines of '_twisted little freak_' in their minds right at that very moment.

"Oh, well, Lila works at the pier, you could ask her." Rhonda suggested now, absolutely unfazed by Curly's outburst, or his continued obsession with the zoo, and presumably freeing the animals from it. Arnold supposed they really must have been married, and Rhonda must have loved him an awful lot, which was nice actually now he thought about it a little.

Future Helga pursed her lips together, giving a slight shake of her head at Rhonda's suggestion, "I was hoping to avoid visiting Lila, for obvious reasons..."

Apparently, future Gerald was equally as concerned with the situation, "I know Helga, it's not ideal but I don't think we have any other choice." he reasoned with her, grimacing a little.

"Right." future Helga sighed, motioning toward the car, "Back in the car everyone, looks like we're taking a trip to the peir."

Arnold was starting to get a little curious about all this secrecy, the Helga of the future seemed to not be telling them something, and most of the time future Gerald seemed to be just as evasive. Not that he felt any certain right to know about their lives, or their future, but it was all becoming rather unnerving. And, furthermore, as they now shuffled back into Gerald's black Mercedes Helga, the younger one, looked absolutely terrified and maybe equally as sad.

What on earth was she so afraid of?


	8. Shortman?

Arnold hadn't been worried at all, besides his mounting concern for Helga who had been very quiet and very still for far longer than usual, in regards to their trip to the pier, until future Helga had shot him a few dozen concerned glances and then proceeded to nervously speak.

"Arnold." the older Helga began warily, "Before we arrive, and before we see Lila, there is something you need to know."

Immediately, Arnold's mind was racing, clearly something about Lila directly affected him, in terms of the distant future he was currently living in at least.

"Something I need to know?" he repeated back to her dumbly, voice filled with concern and mind trying not to jump to any crazy conclusions.

Gerald, the older one, now leant over a little toward the older Helga, "I'm not sure you need to tell him Helga, I mean, the subject may not even come up."

"Gerald, please, she's seven months pregnant, one of them is bound to ask who the father is!" future Helga hissed back in response.

Surely, Arnold thought, future Helga was not steadily leading up to the revelation that Lila was pregnant with _his_ child, that Lila was his _wife_ in the future. Granted, less than an year ago that would have made him ecstatic but that was no longer the case. His change of heart wasn't _just_ because of the Timberley saga, or the constant rejection, not even explicitly the events on the FTI building themselves, but rather a thought process that had sprung to Arnold's mind the night after the April Fools Dance.

It had began when Arnold had, for reasons unknown, considered how Lila may have reacted if she were to be the one he had tangoed with, and thus thrown into the pool. Sure, he knew that he never would have _dreamed_ of doing that to Lila, nor would she have provoked it, but it was an interesting thought nonetheless. In reality she probably would have been 'ever so' upset with him, but just 'oh too certain' he'd do the right thing next time. But who said he _had_ to be so good all the time, he was helpful and kind day in and day out, who said he couldn't let his dark side show sometimes.

So, that thought process had lead him to something more important, _more_ concerning. Saving the neighbourhood – what if his attempts with Lila had succeeded, and what if during the entire neighbourhood demolition debacle she had been his girlfriend. Would Lila have fought _with_ him and Gerald to save the neighbourhood, would she have scaled buildings and stalked dangerous men for vital information? No, Helga did though and despite the secrecy, and the fact Arnold wasn't sure just what sorts of activities she'd got up to, he knew she must have done some pretty risky things.

Not that stalking evil CEOs, calling him using a false identity and kissing him out of nowhere were the _only_ things that he liked about Helga Pataki. No, as the months passed from both FTI and the April Fools Dance, he'd managed to struggle finding a part of Helga Pataki he _didn't _like. Yes, even the scowling.

"Arnold?" future Helga's voice, filled with concern, brought him back from his little daydream, "Did you hear me?"

Arnold looked at her sheepishly, "Uh, no." he admitted slowly, "Sorry."

Surprisingly, she didn't seem bothered by that, just very nervous again, "I said, you're about to meet your newest family member." and then she added, just in case he'd missed the earlier part of the discussion too, "Well, he's not born yet."

Arnold felt faint, a little curious, but definitely above all very faint. The thought crossed his mind to look over at Helga, the younger one, and catch her expression, just to look for _anything_, some anger or sadness, that would prove what she said on the FTI rooftop was real. Unfortunately, his mind was racing too fast to latch onto that thought and actually put it into effect, instead he kept looking forward with wide eyes.

It probably wasn't cause for such panic, especially since his future self had clearly willingly _chosen_ to marry Lila, but Arnold still felt very concerned by this entire situation. Lila wasn't _right_, had he really just somehow _forgotten_ that at some point over the fifteen years from ten until twenty five.

"Arnold?" future Helga was talking to him again, and he wasn't entirely sure what to say, "Listen, I don't know if this is going to bother you, but, Lila married your cousin a year ago and their son is due in two months time."

Arnold heard a funny little choking noise from somebody in the backseat, but he didn't pay too much attention, because he was far too busy enjoying the relief of being able to breathe again. He was in the midst of pondering why older Helga had seemed to nervous to tell him _that_ when Gerald, the younger one, spoke up.

"Arnie?" younger Gerald asked, as though he was checking, "Lila married Arnie? Arnie the plain-gum chewing, lint collecting, ugly cousin of Arnold?"

"Wow, you cannot honestly be _that_ oblivious to things Hair Boy!" younger Helga frowned, eyeing Gerald rather strangely.

Seeming much calmer than before, future Helga now explained, "I don't think we will actually see Arnie while we're here, he works as a fisherman and he's usually out until late." and now she smiled a little, "Lila runs a clothing store on the pier, Olga works there with her most days."

"Oh." younger Helga said flatly, and Arnold distinctly remembered how Lila and Olga's big-sister-little-sister made her feel, "So... how _is_ the family?"

Luckily, future Helga was honestly smiling, which Arnold assumed meant there would be no bad news. "Better, much better" the older blonde woman revealed quite happily, "Bob has actually bothered to learn my _real_ name and he's surprisingly good with Eleanor. Miriam is more, um, shall we say 'alert' and Olga's been through a few tough times, which thankfully broke that Miss Perfect act of hers."

"Olga?" younger Helga blinked, raising her brow in anticipation, "Tough times?"

"Nothing life threatening." the older Helga assured her, letting out a sigh, "But after four failed engagements and six different career changes, she fell apart for a little bit. Bob was so disappointed in her, and I think that's what hurt her the most, but even the old blowhard came around eventually and Olga started to get back on her feet last year."

Future Gerald nodded along with her, "Lila offered her the job at the clothes store a few months back, Olga's going to run the place for a little while once Arnie and Lila's baby is born."

Arnold looked back over at the younger Helga, who still seemed far from convinced, and he couldn't really blame her. "So, you're telling me that in the future Big Bob and Miriam actually function like..." she paused and thought it over for a moment, "human beings?"

"Sure." future Helga assured her, "I wouldn't be nominating them for any parenting awards, not at all, but they've come a long way."

"How?" the younger Helga now frowned, "I mean, but why, did the universe implode, or did aliens come and steal their brains or what?"

Helga probably hadn't intended for everybody to find her question so funny, actually she probably was legitimately wondering if aliens had in fact taken charge of her parents minds, but nevertheless everybody in the car was chuckling. However, none more so than the older Gerald up front in the driver's seat.

"Hmm, no." the Gerald of the future said with a smirk, "I believe it all began when Arnold socked Bob in the jaw."

Arnold immediately stopped his little fit of laughter, in fact he stopped smiling all together, and he suddenly felt like he might have a heart attack. "I DID WHAT!" escaped his mouth in a full-blown shout before he could even process the information fully.

Beside him, the younger Gerald looked just as shocked, and his jaw had completely dropped, "Arnold hit Bob, as in, Big Bob Pataki?"

"Oh yeah, and boy am I glad I was there to see it." future Gerald chuckled away, "Since a group of five of us were all going to college together, we figured we'd hire a moving truck together and help each other move in. So, we get to Helga's house and we're packing her boxes into the truck when Big Bob yells out from the lounge room to stop the racket 'cause he's watching The Wheel and Helga tells him not to worry because in five minutes time she'll be moved out for good and he'll never have to hear her again. Big Bob then storms on out of the lounge room and says 'criminy Olga, you're not moving out anywhere, you're only fourteen years old'. Helga was halfway through reminding him that she was Helga and that she was eighteen years old, when Arnold just threw a fist in his face."

Arnold was panicking, younger Helga looked frozen to her spot and the younger Gerald was clearly very entertained by the story. "Woah, what happened next?" Arnold heard Gerald ask from beside him.

"Arnold told him he was a useless excuse for a parent, and then just walked off to who knows where, Helga was just staring at her father on the floor in shock and, after he hadn't moved for a good few minutes, I realised Bob was probably going to need a trip to the hospital." future Gerald continued to explain.

Now starting to feel a little worried, Arnold spoke up, "Um, guys, is that why I haven't met my future self yet?" and he was legitimately concerned about this, "Did Bob kill me?"

Helga, the younger one, shot him the most horrified look as though maybe she'd been thinking along the very same lines. However, in the front seat the older Gerald and Helga burst into laughter the moment Arnold finished talking.

Shaking his head, future Gerald tried to quell Arnold's current fears, "No, he didn't kill you, but you stayed clear of him for months afterwards."

Future Helga smiled now, "Although, Bob came to see me a few weeks after it happened, apparently he realised Arnold had a point, and things started to get better from there. He started remembering my name, cut down hours at the Emporium and took extra time to help Miriam with her problems too."

Arnold felt incredibly glad, firstly because Big Bob hadn't sought to end his life, and secondly because he'd had a part in making Helga's family life better. Maybe, considering the circumstances, he would do it sooner now that he knew.

Before anybody could comment further on the subject, future Gerald steered the Mercedes into a parking lot and pointed ahead of them, "Here we are guys, the pier!"


	9. Hoover and Pataki

Sunlight radiated from the cool, calm waters of the Skookumchuck River, and the sounds of the Arcade floated from the Hillwood Pier. Overall, it seemed very peaceful, and Arnold noticed that the River itself looked a little cleaner. Lila's clothing store was immediately recognizable, the freshly painted green building stood out from the fading stores surrounding it.

Arnold watched as future Helga and Gerald quickly headed toward the building, with younger Helga close behind, but before he too could follow them the younger Gerald had grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Hey man, you okay?" the younger Gerald half whispered, casting him a concerned glance, "I mean, with Lila marrying your cousin and all."

Arnold smiled, happy Gerald cared enough to check, but shook his head, "I'm happy it worked out for them, after all, Lila seemed to really like Arnie when he came to visit."

"Yeah, but, it's _Lila_." Gerald reminded him, as though maybe Arnold had forgotten.

Sighing, Arnold placed a hand on Gerald's shoulder to assure him, "Gerald, you heard what Sid and Nadine said, I have a great wife." and not wanting to go into further details, not at this particular time, he added, "I guess I just, got over Lila, at some point?"

Gerald seemed to ponder this for a moment, but was soon in total agreement, and with a nod of his head he began to head down the pier, toward where everybody else was now standing.

"I wonder if our wives are pretty." he mused as they began walking, glancing over at Arnold to check for his opinion on the matter.

Arnold blinked, "Does that really matter?" he asked his friend.

Gerald shrugged a little, "I don't know, maybe not. Just so long as they're not _mean_ like Helga Pataki." and then he paused, and a conflicted look came to his face, "Although, future Helga isn't mean, and she's pretty, so... that's pretty surprising."

"It's not _that_ surprising Gerald." Arnold defended, shooting an unappreciative look at his best friend.

Apparently, it _was_ that surprising, because Gerald was a little startled by that comment and looked at Arnold rather strangely, "Do you hear yourself, man?" he asked him.

Carefully, Arnold was considering what to say in response to that question, something that would come off as nonchalant and also effectively change the subject. Standing on the pier in the middle of the very distant future was definitely not the place, nor the time, to be explaining the Helga situation to Gerald.

Luckily, he didn't have to think for too long because before anything more could be said, a sugary sweet voice could be heard from just outside the vibrant green building.

"Oh, it is ever so lovely to see you." the older, and very pregnant, Lila squealed as she raced forward to envelop Helga in her arms.

Arnold was beginning to notice that, in the future, practically everybody rushed to hug Helga the moment she showed up. Actually, people of the future seemed to absolutely _adore_ Helga.

Lila was certainly far more enthusiastic about the intense embrace she'd trapped Helga in, but nonetheless the tall blonde didn't seem all too bothered by the situation, she simply waited until Lila had received her fill and began to pull away.

"How is the baby?" the older Helga asked Lila sincerely, glancing down at the protruding bump with a smile.

Practically glowing, Lila responded cheerfully, "Oh just ever so well Helga!" and she clasped her hands together quickly, "Thank you just oh so much for taking me to the ultrasound appointment last week."

"No problem." future Helga assured her.

Glancing over toward his friends, the younger versions, Arnold could see that this all wasn't making an entire lot of sense to them, and really it wasn't to Arnold either. Younger Helga looked a little shocked, maybe even a touch angry and younger Gerald, well, he looked like somebody had smacked him in the face.

"I thought you hated Lila." the younger Gerald spoke up, turning to raise an eyebrow at the grown up Helga, "Why is everything so _weird_ in the future!"

Lila giggled and shook her head at him, "I'm just certain that Helga never _hated_ me, little Gerald." she informed him sweetly, "It was all just an oh too silly misunderstanding."

"No, sorry Miss Perfect, I'm pretty sure I definitely hated you." future Helga smirked at her, and Lila just sighed good naturedly, "Until high school, that is."

Younger Gerald frowned, "What exactly happened in high school?" he wondered.

Taking a deep breath, future Helga thought about it for a minute and shifted her focus to the younger Gerald, "I guess you could say I helped Lila with something." she responded rather cryptically, finishing by shooting her younger self what appeared to be an incredibly guilty look.

Younger Helga simply rolled her eyes, probably because 'something' did not qualify to her as a legitimate reason to start being friendly with Lila, of all people. "What kind of _something_?" she asked dryly.

"Arnie broke up with her..." future Helga began to explain, quite clearly cringing before she further elaborated, "... because of me."

"WHAT?" and "HELGA?" Arnold and younger Gerald, respectively, loudly shouted in response to this newly alarming revelation and younger Helga scowled at them for their abrupt reactions.

"It's not like I wanted him to!" the older Helga immediately defended herself, "I only found out a few hours later when he showed up on my doorstop to tell me '_Lila will no longer come between us'_. I was horrified, I couldn't stand the creep!"

Lila let out a little breath of air, "Helga, Arnie is ever so unique but I'm just certain he's not a creep." she reprimanded her friend as politely as possible, although, it sounded like they tended to have this disagreement often and Helga clearly always won.

Helga of the future rolled her eyes at Lila's comment, and continued with the story undeterred, "Little Miss Perfect here threw a wooden _chair_ at me during English class the next day and it took me hours of listening to her sob to make her believe that I didn't want to steal him away from her."

"Uh, good." younger Helga said quite loudly, letting out an audible shudder at the subject of conversation, "Creepy snorting little creep."

However, Helga, the older one, had that distinct look of guilt written across her face right now and future Gerald had a knowing look on his face, as though there was far more to the story then had currently been discussed.

"Listen, Helga..." the older blonde woman now addressed her younger self, "I just want you to know that, in my defence, it was all to help Lila and the poor girl _needed_ help and..."

"Cut to the chase!" younger Helga demanded impatiently, tapping her foot against the wooden planks of their pier.

Wincing, and speaking at an almost inaudible level, future Helga admitted, "I, uh, sorta dated Arnie for a few weeks."

Uncharacteristically, the younger Helga didn't scream, in fact, she didn't say _anything_, just buried her face in her hands and shook her head from side to side like she couldn't possibly process what she had just discovered.

Arnold felt so strangely irritated, jealously wasn't something he felt often, but he was incredibly certain that it was _exactly _what he was feeling right now. Arnie, his own _cousin_ had the chance to date Helga G. Pataki and, by all accounts, it certainly seemed like Arnold himself never did.

"It was all part of my plan to help Lila!" future Helga repeated, still trying to defend herself, "I figured, if the little creep wanted to be my boyfriend so bad then sure, I'd let him, and I'd show him _exactly_ why Lila was better."

Lila giggled again, "Oh she treated him just ever so horribly!" she chanted joyfully.

"It was actually a lot of fun." the older Helga nodded with a smirk, "I gave that boy hell."

Arnold, who had decided to distract himself from planning to simply kill his cousin the moment he got back to the present day by thinking about other things, now blinked and looked up at Lila with quite a bit of concern. "You took him back?" he asked her, rather shocked, "After he did all of that to you?"

Her eyes went a little wide and she shook her head quite strongly, "Certainly not immediately!" Lila assured him, "I made him beg for my forgiveness for just oh so long, almost an entire year."

"I'm pretty sure he learnt his lesson." future Helga also assured him, still smirking at the memories of giving poor Arnie a hard time.

"Alright, alright, enough about another one of Helga's little love affairs." future Gerald cut in, rolling his eyes and receiving a frown from the older Helga, "Lila, we came to ask you if you've seen any ducks around the pier recently?"

Lila pursed her lips and thought for a moment, her hand unconsciously rubbing her large belly, "Gosh I'm sorry Gerald but I haven't seen the ducks all week." she said sadly, "Olga used to go out and feed them during the afternoons, it was just ever so cute."

"Darn those ducks, I feel like they're avoiding us!" future Helga growled, "How are we ever going to get our younger selves back home?"

Now smiling, Lila tapped the future Helga's shoulder, effectively cutting off what was sure to be the start of a dramatic tirade of anger. "I'm just certain Stinky would be able to help you, Helga." she said, now patting the tall blonde girls shoulder to calm her down, "As the town gardener I'm just oh too sure he must see them around regularly."

Future Helga's eyes lit up at the suggestion, and she wasted no time in fishing through her pockets for a tiny cubed object that was clearly a futuristic cell phone because she placed it to her ear and it began ringing.

"Stinky here, on a count'a you called you should dang well leave a message!" Stinky's voice bellowed from the speaker, and future Helga visibly winced and moved the phone away from her ear because it was so loud.

After waiting for the equally loud beeping noise, Helga of the future began to leave her message, "Stinky, it's Helga. I need you to call me back as soon as possible." she demanded, and then paused, as though maybe that didn't sound serious enough, "And if you don't, I swear to Fuzzy Slippers, I will personally eat every last lemon pudding in this town _while you watch_, got me?"

Letting out a good chuckle at Helga's intended 'threatening message' to poor Stinky, future Gerald turned his attention back to the problem at hand - the three children standing with them on the pier.

"Helga, we're going to have to take our younger selves back to your house until Stinky calls back." he said with a frown, "It's too dangerous out here, they're learning too much."


	10. Early Arrivals

Helga and Gerald, the grown up ones sitting in the front seats, were worried and it was becoming increasingly obvious. Of course, Arnold could understand why they wouldn't want their younger selves to learn too much about the future, considering their knowledge could lead things astray. Truly, it would be a shame if they _did _alter the future in any way because everything seemed to have worked out nicely here.

_But_, was it too much to ask to meet his future self, Gerald and Helga had enjoyed the luxury of walking around chatting to their older counterparts all day and Arnold still didn't even know where he _lived_.

Suddenly, the silence which had enveloped the car since leaving the pier was broken by the younger Helga, "What is your, I mean our, book about?" she asked her future self.

"Life experiences, mostly." future Helga answered, with a little smile that indicated she was clearly referring to _good_ life experiences.

Apparently, something about that was funny, because future Gerald began sniggering away in the driver's seat, shooting the older Helga more of those funny knowing looks. The younger Helga, however, paid no mind to this and sat back to ponder over her future self's response.

Gerald's black Mercedes pulled into the gated entry to their residential street, and he wound down his window to face the large black speaker box.

"Resident or Guest?" crackled a deep monotone voice from the speaker system.

Clearly, this man was difficult to deal with because Gerald sighed in exasperation before stating, "Resident."

After a few moment of silence, the voice spoke up again, "State your name please."

"Gerald Johanssen." the future Gerald responded, rolling his eyes and looking up into the security cameras, which indicated that whoever this man was, he could clearly _see_ exactly who Gerald was.

"_And?_" the voice box sparked to life again, and now future Helga shifted to look at the big black square in absolute distaste.

Future Gerald sighed, once again exasperated, "You know exactly who she is!" he complained, "And it doesn't matter anyway, _I'm_ the driver, so open up the gate."

"Passenger, state your name please." the troublesome man repeated, a horrible static noise sounding at the end of his sentence.

Biting her lip, in either anger or concern, Helga said scathingly, "_Helga_."

Apparently, that was not enough, because the box crackled again and the man said, "Last name, please."

"Oh come _on,_ you know exactly who I am!" future Helga protested dramatically, now scowling up at the security camera fixed to the beam above the car.

"Protocol." came the only answer from the ominous black box.

Helga was unimpressed, and it clearly showed, her tone was low and seething, "Desmond, if you do not open these gates for us right now, I swear I will come down there and personally knock that toupee off your oversized head!" she threatened.

Grumbling noises were heard from the box, "I don't know why you just can't say it." the man muttered sulkily, as the gates began to slowly unlock.

"Same ol' Helga." future Gerald said to the three children in the backseat, smirking a little.

Unfortunately, if his joke was designed to keep the three of them distracted from the reality of what had just occurred, it certainly did not work because they were all considerably suspicious.

"What was that all about?" younger Gerald spoke up first, raising an eyebrow at the older Helga in the passenger seat.

Helga, the younger one, backed him up almost immediately, "Yeah, why wouldn't you just tell him your last name?" she questioned.

Crossing her arms defensively, the older blonde woman let out a frustrated breath, "Well, I shouldn't _have _to." she reasoned.

Younger Gerald was still unconvinced, "You're acting strange, and you won't tell us things." he noted, "What's going on here?"

The older Helga let out a pained sigh, "Gerald, there are some things about the future you're better off not knowing." she explained softly, her tone taking the younger versions by surprise a little, "If you learn too much you might risk changing everything."

"But what if it changes everything for the better?" younger Helga challenged her, as the car pulled up into the driveway of the older Helga's house and the older Gerald switched the keys to the ignition off.

In the blink of an eye, future Helga had shifted in her seat, to look directly into the eyes of her younger self, "I guarantee you Helga, you do not want to change your future." she assured the pigtailed girl _very_ seriously.

However, as they began to climb out the car and shuffle along the walkway to the front door, future Gerald clearly had one thing in mind to have his younger self do better the second time around. "Except, Gerald, when a girl called Ebony in Junior year asks you to help her with some maths homework, do _not_ say yes." he lectured his younger self, as he held the front door open for everybody.

"Gerald!" future Helga protested as she passed in and walked into her home, "That was a quality learning experience, and everything worked out fine in the end."

Future Gerald scoffed at her, "Oh really?" he challenged, "Because that certainly wasn't the attitude you took to the whole debacle at the time!"

Clearly, he was correct, because future Helga grimaced a little and offered him a, "Sorry Gerald." followed by a very guilty smile.

Suddenly a flash of pink and gold came waddling over to the group as they stepped into the lounge room, and little Eleanor, who had moved surprisingly fast for somebody so small, grinned up at the faces of her three newest acquaintances.

"Mummwe." she begged adorably, looking incredibly excited, "Can I pway wif your fwends?"

Obviously, her mother was unable to refuse her anything, because the tough and independent blonde woman completely melted under her daughters gaze and she gave Eleanor a nod in response to her question.

Eleanor squealed in delight, and wasted no time in scurrying over in between the younger Helga and Arnold and grabbing hold of both their hands.

"I lwike you." the small girl stated, staring up at Helga, who looked a little overwhelmed to say the least, "I fink you're pwetty and I lwike your bow, cause it's pwink"

Something about that harmless comment, whatever it may have been, made the younger Helga all but begin hyperventilating on the spot and future Helga rushed over to pull Eleanor away from the two of them.

"Okay, Eleanor." her mother began, sounding a little panicked, "How about you play with your toys instead."

Arnold peered over at the older Gerald, to see if he was making any sense of what just happened, and although he did look a little bemused, he didn't seem to be completely thrown.

"Stinky better hurry up and call us back." he sighed, running his hands through his short black afro, "This is getting messy."

Moments later, out in the hallway, the distinct sound of the front door clicking open, and a few short footsteps onto the wooden floors could be heard. Arnold blinked and looked over at younger Gerald, who raised an eyebrow, whilst the noises finally broke the younger Helga from her strange meltdown.

Across the room, future Helga had all but turned a sickly shade of pale, Eleanor was halfway across the room headed for the foyer and future Gerald's eyes were wide.

"Please don't tell me it's about to get messier." he muttered hopelessly out into the room.

Eleanor, by this stage, could be heard fumbling across the floorboards in the entry, and seconds later she cried out, "Daddy, yay Daddy!" in an unbelievably high pitched squeal.

"Oh _shit_!" future Helga yelped.

Whilst Gerald and Helga of the future were consumed with insane panic, Arnold had turned to look at both the younger Helga and Gerald to see that they were just as confused as he was. Despite the fact they realised Helga had been rather secretive about her last name, and her husband, they hadn't expected _this _level of dismay.

"Hey darling." a man's voice echoed from the hallway, "I came home early."

Eleanor giggled a little, "Why?" the little girl was heard enquiring curiously.

"Hmmm..." the man chuckled a little in response, "I missed you and mommy too much."

Again, Eleanor giggled happily and this time the footsteps resumed, quickly moving through the foyer area and clearly headed directly toward the living room. Helga and Gerald of the future looked at each other helplessly, whilst the younger Helga and Gerald looked even further confused and Arnold, well, he was just waiting to see who this mystery man might be.

Seconds later, a tall man with tanned skin appeared in the large archway, carrying Eleanor easily in his strong arms and tilting his head a little at the unexpected presence of more than just his wife in the living room. Startled, he looked nervously over at the future Helga, and then the future Gerald, and he uttered an, "Oh no..."

Arnold didn't even have time to blink before an ear piercing scream shot through the room, courtesy of the ten year old Helga G. Pataki, for no more than two or three seconds before she stopped breathing entirely and passed out.

Gerald, the younger one, opened his mouth once, shut it and looked down at the unconscious younger Helga, then opened it again to say, "Oh... my... god... that's..."


	11. Oh My God, That's

Arnold didn't even have time to blink before an ear piercing scream shot through the room, courtesy of the ten year old Helga G. Pataki, for no more than two or three seconds before she stopped breathing entirely and passed out.

Gerald, the younger one, opened his mouth once, shut it and looked down at the younger Helga, then opened it again to say, "Oh... my... god... that's..."

Arnold didn't let him continue any further, stepping forward with wide eyes and completing the sentence for him,"Oh my god, that's _me_." he gasped.

Arnold of the future, who currently looked somewhat like a kid who'd been caught stealing from the cookie jar, slowly placed Eleanor down onto the living room floor and sheepishly glanced over to the future Helga, presumably planning to beg for mercy. "Not a good day to come home early, I guess." he noted awkwardly.

"Arnold!" the future Helga glared, "I could just kill you!"

Clearly testing his luck, the older Arnold smiled warmly at her and headed over to wrap his arms around her waist. Surprisingly, at least to the two younger kids still conscious, it actually worked and Helga of the future apparently forgot all about wanting to kill him.

Arnold, the younger one, blinked as _really_ hesitant chuckles were heard from the younger Gerald beside him, who was shaking his head a little, "Nice joke... right?" he asked hopefully, only to be met with a stern shake of the head from his future self.

"She's out cold, the poor thing." came the voice of the older Helga, who had now made her way over to her passed out younger self, and was scooping her up into her arms.

"What do you mean _poor Helga_?" younger Gerald immediately spluttered, his eyes wide, "Arnold is the one we should be feeling sorry for here!" he protested, motioning toward the younger Arnold who was now beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.

Calmly, the older Gerald made his way across the living room toward his distressed younger self, who seemed to be taking this incredibly badly, "Face it man, your buddy there is crazy about Helga Pataki." he said rather bluntly, turning to shoot a look at the older Arnold, "He just hasn't _told _you yet."

"If I had told you, you would have gone nuts." future Arnold complained, "In fact, you did go nuts!"

"I found you making out with her in the Janitor's Closet in fifth grade!" future Gerald argued back loudly, "It was a harsh introduction to the truth man!"

Arnold's future self put a hand to his face, and frowned back at his best friend, "I don't think they needed to know that, Gerald!" he pointed out.

Arnold, the younger one, now felt a familiar set of eyes rest upon him and for something that usually made him so calm, his best friends gaze, it was a little unnerving right now. "Arnold!" the younger Gerald cried out, gripping Arnold's shoulders and shaking him, "WE'RE _IN_ THE FIFTH GRADE!"

Gulping, Arnold realised that he had a _very_ good point, that was _soon_ or, even worse, Gerald was probably thinking it may have _already _happened. Not that that would be a bad thing if it had, Arnold thought which bright a blush to his cheeks, but the record did have to be set straight right now.

"Uh... Gerald, I-I..." he began unconvincingly, trying to find the correct words to explain the situation to the impatiently staring younger Gerald Johanssen.

Unfortunately, he got no further than that because in the archway now stood a petite woman with coffee coloured skin and short dark hair, and everybody's attention had now turned directly toward her.

"I believe I have interrupted something." the older Phoebe, wearing a bright white lab coat, observed politely.

Arnold of the future frowned, "Sorry Phoebe." he spoke up, "I forgot I asked you to come over."

"Absolutely no problem Arnold, it seems you've found yourselves in quite a precarious situation." she noted, pursing her lips together slightly as she surveyed the occupants of the living room, her eyes finally settling on Helga carrying Helga, "Oh my, it seems she did not take the news well."

Phoebe received a stupefied stare from the distressed younger Gerald, "Of course she didn't, she hates him!" he wailed, determined to cling to the fading hope that this was all an elaborate hoax.

Around the room, the future versions of themselves burst into laughter at the younger Gerald's most recent comment. Meanwhile, younger Arnold was still at a complete loss for words.

"Poor Helga." Phoebe giggled from across the room.

"_Why_ does everybody keep saying 'poor Helga'?" younger Gerald cringed, motioning toward her unconscious form, "Why?"

Now younger Arnold was frowning, "Maybe because she fainted, Gerald." he pointed out.

Immediately, he regretted making the decision to speak up, because younger Gerald spun in a flash to face him and with the greatest look of concern he asked, "Arnold, why are you defending Helga G. Pataki? You _hate _her!" and when this statement was followed by an uneasy silence from absolutely everybody in the room, he continued, "Come on Arnold, please tell me you do not like Helga Pataki!"

"I'm taking Helga to our room until she wakes up!" future Helga suddenly declared as loudly as possible, distracting attention away from the younger Arnold who currently felt like he was facing the firing squad.

Arnold, the older version, nodded at her comment as she adjusted the weight of younger Helga in her arms and carried her off down the hallway.

"Seriously, this is a joke, right?" younger Gerald once again begged, this time directing his plea toward the future Arnold, "There's no way you're married to Helga Pataki!"

"Helga _Shortman._" was the immediate response from the older Arnold, and he smiled a little at poor ten-year-old Gerald who now brought his hands to his face and groaned in defeat.

Meanwhile, the younger Arnold felt himself blushing at that, _Helga Shortman,_ it sounded nice. Certainly not as menacing as _Helga G. Pataki_, but it still suited her just as well.

Over the other side of the room, the future Arnold had now turned toward Phoebe and the older Gerald and after great consideration he asked his best friend, "Do we tell him about Phoebe?"

"What about Phoebe?" younger Gerald's slightly muffled voice was heard, his head now lifting slightly from his hands to gaze over at the older version of Phoebe Heyerdahl attentively.

Gerald of the future looked contemplatively over toward Phoebe, and then shrugged, "Sure, I guess they know pretty much everything else." he decided, and she seemed to nod a little at him to assure him she agreed, "Gerald, uh, Phoebe is your future wife..."

Whilst Gerald, the younger one, spent a few moments staring wide eyed at Phoebe, the future Arnold slipped out of the room and seemed to head the same direction down the hallway as Helga had moments beforehand.

"Um... cool." was the response that finally came from the younger Gerald, now grinning like a Cheshire Cat, "Phoebe... that's awesome."

Phoebe giggled a little and went to stand by her husband, "Why thank you, young Gerald." she smiled.

"Yeah, it's a tough job, being married to the most beautiful girl in the world." future Gerald winked, placing a kiss on Phoebe's cheek, "But somebody's gotta do it."

"Gerald!" Phoebe protested with a slight blush.

Seeing a chance to slip out unnoticed, younger Arnold stepped around the three slowly and headed out of the living room and into the foyer. Briefly, he wondered which hallway his future self, and future Helga, had disappeared down when he overheard two voices around the corner of the corridor to the left.


	12. Shortman

Eyeing the large hallway carefully, the younger Arnold located a large wooden cabinet close to the figures of his future self, and the future Helga, and with great care to be as quiet as possible he shuffled behind the antique piece of furniture. Once he was certain he was hidden, and could maintain his balance, younger Arnold peered out from behind the cabinet and into the hallway, where two figures stood wrapped in each other's arms.

"I hope she'll be okay." Arnold's future self said sincerely, his arms around his wife's waist as he looked down at her, "I feel pretty bad for scaring her like that."

Helga of the future laughed a little, "Oh, don't feel too bad Football Head, I'm sure she won't pound you." she assured her husband playfully, her arms coming to wrap around his neck.

Arnold, the younger one behind the cabinet, blinked at her words. Helga still called him Football Head, even fifteen years in the future, even as his wife, and it was slowly dawning on him this very moment that, '_Football Head'_, had never been an insult at all. Actually, after all this time, it was a pet name. Maybe Helga even _liked_ the shape of his head, and that was certainly an interesting thought.

"Sure?" his future self chuckled, with a little grin, "Because we _are_ talking about ten year old Helga..." and he bent down to press a kiss to his wife's forehead.

Future Helga smiled blissfully at him for a moment, before blinking and frowning just a touch, "I hope knowing their future doesn't change anything for them."

"I'm sure they'll be fine Helga." future Arnold assured her, "It's not too long in their time before we, or should I say they, get together anyway."

Initially, this didn't seem to fill her with much confidence, but after remaining with a thoughtful expression for a few moments, she said, "Hmm, maybe they'll be able to enjoy a Gerald-interruption-free first kiss."

Arnold of the future laughed warmly, "His reaction was priceless though." he reminded his wife.

Apparently, she didn't quite agree, because she raised an eyebrow at him and stated very dryly, "Arnold, he ran into the cafeteria screaming '_when is this nightmare going to end_'." and when Arnold looked like he was going to open his mouth to respond to her comment, she put a hand to his lips to silence him, and continued, "And then he called you every night for a week in the hope that it _was_ all a dream."

"See babe..." Arnold smirked, "Funny."

Helga simply rolled her eyes at him and pulled him in for a kiss, a silent request which he looked all too happy to comply with. Behind the large wooden cabinet, younger Arnold was smiling and he couldn't have helped it if he tried, no wonder Nadine had mentioned other people being jealous of their marriage, it looked _perfect_.

"So..." Helga's voice echoing through the corridor snapped the younger Arnold from his little trance, and he blinked, and directed his gaze back toward the couple, "How were your parents?"

_Parents_, the very word itself buzzed through the younger Arnold's mind and made his heart stop a little, his breath catching as he waited for more information.

"Great, taking San Lorenzo by storm as usual." his future self grinned, "They miss you lots though, Eleanor too, so they're flying over for Christmas this year, actually."

Absolutely no further doubt in his mind that they were truly discussing _his parents_, his _real_ parents, younger Arnold's heart beat quickened and he truly felt dizzy. Feeling around for the wall behind him, he let himself push against it and drop to the floor a little. It was overwhelming, somewhere and somehow over the next fifteen years, he was going to _find his parents._

Helga seemed excited, because although he couldn't see her, younger Arnold could hear her bouncing around on the floorboards a little and she even let out a tiny squeal.

"Ohh, are you thinking what I'm thinking, Football Head?" she asked moments later.

From behind the cupboard, younger Arnold managed to scoot forward again and peer out to see his older self raising an eyebrow at Helga. "Hmmm, well if it's not 'Christmas at the Boarding House' then, I'll be very disappointed in you, Mrs Shortman." he told her playfully, clearly aware that was _exactly_ what she was thinking.

Helga didn't even bother with an auditory response, and instead grabbed him by force and pulled him into an incredibly intense kiss that even caught her husband momentarily off guard. Younger Arnold, as a poor innocent ten year old, actually had to put a hand over his little eyes until he heard them gasp for breath, and was certain the passionate display of affection had ceased.

"Okay, wow." Arnold of the future mumbled dreamily, his eyes void of all focus for a good few seconds before he shook his head and came back to reality, "But maybe no more of that while there's little mini-me's all over the house."

"Gee, Football Head, you're such a do-gooder little shrimp!" Helga responded sarcastically, with a roll of her eyes, before unwrapping her arms from his neck and walking off down the hallway, back toward the lounge room.

Pushing himself backward into the wall, younger Arnold slid out of Helga's view as she passed by and soon afterward he heard future Arnold hurry along after her, a grin on his face as he went.

Ensuring that the older versions of himself and Helga had time to go by, and reach the lounge room, Arnold pushed himself up from his hiding spot and headed forward to the large entry doors clearly leading to the master bedroom, where the younger Helga was probably still passed out.


	13. Regaining Consciousness

Arnold opened the large entry doors slowly, hoping he had in fact successfully located the master bedroom, and his thoughts were confirmed when he entered the luxurious suite. Blinking, his eyes roamed the high ceilings, down to the open fireplace with a spotless golden mantelpiece. Sitting in front of that very same fireplace was a red couch, one which Arnold recognised instantly as his red flip-out couch from the Boarding House. Light from the golden chandelier illuminated the room, as the thick red curtains on the window had been pulled shut.

Shifting forward, his gaze met with the central piece of furniture, a grand four poster bed with sheer material hanging from the top posts, the bed itself made with crisp white linen and fluffy pillows. Directly in the middle of the bed, was a bright splash of pink and golden hair. Helga was clearly still passed out, because Arnold could see as he slowly moved closer, that she looked a little lifeless, but peaceful.

Briefly he wondered if the bed was as soft and comfortable as it looked and, deciding that is _was_ his bed after all, he sat on the edge a little to test it out. Apparently he had underestimated it, because it was more than just comfortable, actually it was like sitting on clouds. Sitting on clouds with Helga, who looked like she was smiling right now, and who was moving right now and... Uh oh, Helga was moving...

"Arnold." she said softly, in a way that reminded him strongly of a certain rooftop confession, that little smile still on her face. At least, that was until she blinked once or twice, looked back over toward him and screamed, "ARNOLD!" flying backwards faster than he could fully process, and thus falling directly off the opposite side of the bed.

Arnold winced as she thudded to the ground, and after processing the shock, hopped up and ran around to her, "Helga!" he said, still a little surprised by the events, "Are you okay?"

"Sure, _peachy_, just f-" she began sarcastically, glaring unhappily at the hand he'd offered her to help her up, until her eyes moved elsewhere and she frowned, "Is that your couch?" she asked, her voice full of confusion, as she pointed to the bright red object.

Arnold nodded, "Yeah." he responded, just as uncertain as to its reason for being here as she was, until he realised, Helga had never been to his house, "Uh, Helga, how do you know that's my couch?"

Now Helga looked terrified, and Arnold was struggling to piece together the panicked look on her face, until he heard the words '_stalking you day and night'_ ring clearly through his memories. Deciding to file any further questions about the couch, or about stalking, away for later, at a time when they weren't both stuck in their future bedroom, Arnold officially took back the question with a , "Never mind."

Helga seemed glad, and changed the subject immediately, "Wow, this room is huge." she stated rather obviously, picking herself up to walk around the bedroom a little, and Arnold couldn't really blame her, she was probably feeling overwhelmed right now.

Thinking he might look around further too, Arnold's attention was suddenly caught by a large photo on the tall white dressing table by the window, a photo encased by a beautiful golden frame. His hands even shook a little as he reached to pick it up, the faces of his parents and grandparents standing with himself, Helga and Eleanor as a tiny baby, staring back at him in picture form.

"Um, earth to Arnoldo!" Helga suddenly growled from across the room, clearly having attempted to ask him some kind of question at a previous time, "What the heck are you staring at?" she demanded, stomping her way over.

Arnold was about to respond when he literally felt her tense behind him, but not as though she was angry, and then he heard her say a little shakily, "Arnold, are those your..."

"Parents." he breathed, finishing the sentence for her, "My parents."

Of course, he didn't expect her to understand at all just how much that meant to him, but like so many things with Helga Pataki, she surprised him. Surprised him in the way her eyes went wide, even further with the way she smiled and surprised him the most when she suddenly hugged him so hard he thought he might stop breathing. After letting the shock dissipate, he moved his own arms around her waist to hug her back, her body pressed against him all warm and happy, and he wondered what it might be like to try kissing her right now.

Gerald, the younger one, must have had some kind of cosmic anti-Arnold-and-Helga sense, however, because at that moment he burst through the door.

Helga broke away first, actually she backed off so fast it gave Arnold whiplash, and she stood staring at Gerald with the kind of expression one might have if a gun were held to their head.

Gerald, in response, looked between the both of them four or five times before saying, "Okay, so it's real, it's real and I can handle it." and he looked back over at Helga's expression, then back to Arnold's anticipating gaze, and cringed, "Okay, no I can't, not right now but maybe later, maybe later I can handle it. I can-"

"Criminy!" Helga called out abruptly, her normal demeanour now restored, "Get over it, Hair Boy!"

Taking that none too kindly, Gerald rolled his eyes, "Says the girl who _fainted_!" he pointed out, earning himself a sheepish look from the blonde terror herself.

Knowing this fight could go for hours if not interrupted, Arnold stepped forward toward his best friend, "Gerald, did you come in here for a _reason_?" he enquired.

"Oh, yeah." Gerald blinked, suddenly remembering that his surprise visit was not without a certain purpose, "Stinky called the pretty Helga, and he's coming over to help."

Helga growled at him, but much to both boys surprise she made no threats nor comments, and simply headed out of the bedroom door, toward the living room. Arnold _did_ glare at him, however, and Gerald shot him a guilty look before he too made his way back to the other room.


	14. Questions and Answers

Arnold stepped back into the large lounge room, joining the future versions of his friends, along with the younger Gerald and Helga, in the wait for Stinky's arrival.

"Stinky should be here in twenty minutes or so." future Helga was saying to the older members of the conversation, when she clearly heard the re-arrival of the younger three, and smiled, "Oh good, they're all back."

Considering that a moment of silence had befallen the room, younger Arnold looked over to his future self and with great curiosity, as always, he asked, "Uh, future me, why is my couch in the bedroom?"

Gerald, the older one, seemed to know the reason and it was clearly hilarious because he could hardly control the snorts of laughter that ensued after Arnold's little question.

"Well, uh, we like the couch." future Helga attempted to reason, only making the future Gerald laugh harder, and future Arnold shift awkwardly in his position.

Evidently not realising that something was amiss, younger Gerald nodded, "It _is_ a really comfortable couch." he shrugged.

"Uh yeahhh..." future Gerald choked a little, shooting his younger self a strange grin, "I think that's part of the appeal." his comment earning him a strong glare from the future Helga.

"Criminy, enough about the couch!" younger Helga griped with a scowl, "More _importantly_, when the heck did Arnoldo's parents come back?"

Gerald, the younger one, was staring at him in the blink of an eye, "Your _parents_ are back?" he asked, completely shocked.

"Actually, they're living in San Lorenzo again but, yeah, we found them." future Arnold explained with a smile, and let out a little sigh, "It's a long story."

Seemingly, that was not a good enough explanation for the young pigtailed girl, "We've got time, _tall-_Football-Head." she instructed.

Amused, the future Arnold chuckled at her, but then took a deep breath and began to explain the story a little better, "We went to San Lorenzo when we were fifteen-"

"_We_?" Arnold, the younger one, cut in at that moment because in all honestly, he'd never assumed other people would ever be willing to trek dangerous jungles with him, all in search of his parents.

"Yep, all four of us went." future Gerald explained, motioning between the four older adults that occupied the Shortman's living room, "And Brainy and Curly both showed up on the plane for some reason, so they came along too."

Arnold of the future nodded, and continued on, "It took us a week to locate the village of the Green Eyed People, but once we did we learnt that my parents had been captured by a man named LaSombra many years ago, and held as prisoners of war."

"Wait up." younger Gerald frowned, "How did you even afford the tickets for this?"

Smiling, the older Arnold reached for his wife's hand, "I told Helga a month before my fifteenth birthday that I'd decided I probably wouldn't ever go searching for my parents, I figured they'd be dead by then anyway." he squeezed her hand a little, "But she wouldn't let me give up, so on my birthday she gave an envelope and said '_better pack your bags Football Head, we're going to San Lorenzo'."_

Amazed, the younger Arnold turned toward the older Helga, "How'd you get the _money_ for that?"

"Years of saving." Helga shrugged, and then added with a smirk, "Oh, _and_ a few shady activities you'd never approve of."

Helga, the ten year old, tapped her foot impatiently, "So, who was this LaSombra guy?"

"Right, sorry Helga." future Arnold laughed, "LaSombra was a notorious pirate, actually, he was born into the Green Eyed People's civilisation but turned against them as a teenager, when he discovered the power of their ancient relics and tried to steal them for himself."

Younger Gerald, looking incredibly intrigued, raised an eyebrow at the future Arnold, "What'd he want with your parents?"

"LaSombra wanted a specific artefact, something called _La Corazon_, and he had no idea where to find it." future Arnold answered, "The day after my parents arrived to help the Green Eyes with the Sleeping Sickness, he raided their village and interrogated hundreds of Green Eyes warriors and royalty, and then parents, hoping somebody would tell him La Corazon's whereabouts."

"Nobody would tell him, though." future Helga spoke up, stroking her husband's hand a little in support, "So he took them all prisoner, threatening to keep them locked up until they helped him."

Tingling with excitement, the younger Arnold spoke up again, "What happened after you found them?" and next to him the younger Gerald and Helga looked on expectantly, surely anticipating some sort of dramatic tale.

"Well, for a renowned criminal, his hideout wasn't all that difficult to break into, or break people out of, it only took us ten minutes." his future self explained, "Unfortunately, once we were out of there we realised mom and dad couldn't just come straight back to the States like we had hoped."

"What?" younger Helga growled, looking extremely unimpressed, "_Why_?"

"Lots of reasons." the older Helga began, "Firstly, they needed to provide statements to the government for their time as prisoners of war, they also had to testify against La Sombra at his trial, but also because they had been exposed to the sleeping sickness."

Nodding, future Arnold recalled thoughtfully, "Quarantine laws prohibited them returning to the States without spending an extended period in isolation, and _then_ receiving a comprehensive medical clearance. I stayed in San Lorenzo with them until we could all return together."

Arnold gulped, wondering how many of his teenage years he had spent away in a foreign country, without everything he'd ever known as _home_.

Unfortunately, Gerald didn't help the current feeling of dread washing over Arnold, when he suddenly remarked, "Guess that explains Helga's random high school boyfriends then!"

Eyes wide, he realised Gerald was right, no doubt Helga's sudden availability to date _Harold and Arnie_ of all people, was caused by his prolonged stay in San Lorenzo.

"Watch it, kiddo." the future Helga warned him.

"Uh..." Arnold, the younger one, began nervously, "When exactly _did_ I come back?"


	15. Sisters, Stalkers and Stitches

*OC Warning: I have used Kirei Tsuki's OC Chal (from _The Heart of San Lorenzo_, and other fics of hers) because I think she's super cute :)

.

* * *

"Uh..." Arnold, the younger one, began nervously, "When exactly _did_ I come back?"

"Oh, about one week prior to deciding to knock out Big Bob." the future Gerald said nonchalantly, shooting an impressed grin at his best friend, "I swear, the jungle made you a _badass_."

Due to his absence for most of the day, and thus being unaware of the earlier conversation in regards to the event, future Arnold looked back at Gerald with a face of absolute horror. "Gerald!" he cried out helplessly, "You _told_ them about that?"

"I had to man, it's one of my favourite stories!" the future Gerald defended himself, a little smirk coming to his face as he continued, "Arnold Shortman's guide to winning back your ex-girlfriend after three years away in a foreign country: send her father to hospital."

Arnold, the older one, let out an unamused breath of air, "Yeah, well it worked." he shot back sulkily, before looking very seriously down at the three children standing in front of him, "Not that it was the _right_ thing to do, of course."

Remembering something else in relation to the '_Big Bob story'_, that being the gang moving to college, the younger Gerald looked around at the four familiar older faces in the room and frowned with a little confusion. "Wait, didn't you day five of you went to college together?" he enquired now, "Who is the fifth person?"

"Oh, that would be Brainy." Phoebe spoke up with a smile from her place on the couch.

"Oh criminy!" the younger Helga exclaimed, rolling her eyes, for reasons which only the older people in the room seemed to understand, "Whatever happened to Sir Wheeze Alot anyway?"

Chuckling, the younger Arnold shot her a very amused look, "Actually, he married my sister."

"_Huh?_" was the only, very short, sound that managed to escape her mouth in response, as for the current moment she looked entirely confused.

Possibly, the younger Arnold thought, she may be confused for the very same reason he was, "Sister?" he certainly hadn't expected _that_.

Phoebe nodded, "Certainly, whilst Chaltiquel is not of blood relation to Arnold, she is legally considered his sibling as Miles and Stella adopted her during their extended three year wait in San Lorenzo." she wisely informed the three younger versions.

"Uh, in normal English please?" the younger Helga requested immediately, to the relief of both the younger Arnold and Gerald, who hadn't been entirely sure how to inform future Phoebe that her description was, well, lacking.

"Chal is a Green Eyed native, a Princess actually, mom and dad took care of her during the years in La Sombra's camp." future Arnold stepped back in to explain, "She had no parents to look out for her, and she became like a daughter to them."

Incredibly curious, maybe just at the notion of Brainy being with some kind of exotic princess, younger Gerald asked, "Well, how come we never got to see them around town?"

"Chal and Brainy live in San Lorenzo, actually." came the explanation from the older Arnold, who then paused and laughed a little, "The tropical heat does wonders for his asthma."

Beside him, it was clear that something important had come to mind for the older Helga, who sat blinking and staring out to space for a moment, before looking up expectantly at her husband. "Wait." she said, eyeing him carefully, "Arnold if your parents are coming over for Christmas, does that mean Chal and Brainy are coming too?"

"Darn." he responded, looking a little defeated with a slight pout, "It was supposed to be a surprise."

Helga, the future one, wasted no time in leaping to her feet, eyes wide in great excitement for this latest discovery. "Yes!" she exclaimed triumphantly, looking at Arnold rather hopefully, "Chal and I can dress Eleanor in the tribal costumes again!"

"No!" the he responded almost immediately, shaking his head with great disapproval, "Not after last time, my poor daughter could hardly walk in that stuff."

Grumbling, she sat back down into her chair muttering various vows to enact revenge on him at a later date for his refusal of her incredibly fun ideas.

Meanwhile, younger Gerald had suddenly remembered something important, "Wait, wait." he said to the future version of himself, "Nobody ever told me about how Phoebe and me got together."

"Oh right!" the future Gerald nodded, "Well, in sixth grade Helga practically blackmailed me into 'finally' admitting to Phoebe that I liked her, so, I asked her out at the cheese festival a few days later."

Younger Gerald groaned, "That's _it_?" he complained, motioning toward Arnold beside him, "Those two get an epic saga and all I get is Pataki blackmailing me... and a cheese festival?"

Phoebe smiled at him, "Certainly, we have always been the more, shall we say, 'normal' couple." she assured the boy.

"Yeah." the future Gerald agreed, motioning toward the future Arnold and Helga, "Ain't nothing normal about those two."

Shooting them a side-glance each, younger Gerald shook his head, "Tell me about it." he agreed rather dryly.

Knocking sounds echoing from the front door interrupted the conversation, and after a few quick moments the guest at the door let themselves in.

"Howdy there everyone." sounded a familiar country voice, as Stinky became visible in the living room entryway, "Dang, you sure weren't kiddin', they really are here!" he noted as he took a good look down at the three kids.


	16. Peterson

"Howdy there everyone!" sounded a familiar country voice, as Stinky became visible in the living room entryway, "Dang, you sure weren't kiddin', they really are here." he noted as he took a good look down at the three kids.

Ignoring the tall mans statement, future Helga had her eyes firmly fixed on what he was currently carrying, or rather dragging, along in his hands. "Uh, Stinko, mind explaining why you're carrying fern branches?" she asked with an eyebrow raised at him.

"Sure thing." he obliged happily, his accent as strong as ever, "Ya see I know ya said you'd be needin' ferns an ducks, so I brought 'em all to ya!"

Realising something, the older Arnold cut into the conversation, "Wait." he spoke up, "You brought ducks _with_ you?"

Proudly, the Stinky of the future nodded, "Yup, three of 'em."

"Are you telling me there's duck _in_ my house?" future Helga checked, lifting a hand to her head in slight exasperation.

Stinky frowned, shook his head a little but then specified, "Well, not until my lovely wife brings 'em in outta the truck."

Unfortunately, that was not of much solace to the future Helga, who looked horrified that Stinky was planning to literally let waddling water birds free in her home. Arnold patted her shoulder, "Calm down honey, he's only trying to help." he reminded her gently.

"Garsh, did ya want 'em or not Miss Helga?" Stinky enquired, scratching his head a little in confusion, considering he had obviously felt his plan was rather ingenious.

"Yeah, I did." the older Helga sighed, now shooting him a smile, "Thanks Stinky, but how about we put them in the back yard, next to the pool?"

Stinky grinned, and nodded in agreement, "No problem!" he assured her, before turning to call out to the person who could now he heard entering the front doors, "Sweetie, we're gonna put the ducks in the yard cause we don't wanna mess up Miss Helga's purdy home."

"Okay, I'll bring them through" responded a sweet, girly voice, as Stinky's wife entered the archway to the living room with two cages of ducks, "Oh, look at the little versions of you, how super cute."

Silence engulfed the room at that very moment, and the three children were staring at their newest visitor with great confusion. Younger Arnold blinked hard, and even shook his head a little, but it appeared he truly _was_ seeing what he thought he was.

Of the three children, Helga managed to speak first, even if she did choke on her words a little as they came out, "Are you freaking _kidding_ me?" she exclaimed.

Gerald, after rubbing his eyes and also reconfirming that this was truly happening, let out a very confused, "_Ruth MacDougal?"_

"Ruth Peterson." she simply corrected him politely, "Shall we?" and she motioned toward the cages and began to make her way through the doors, and out into the spacious backyard.

Helga of the future chuckled at their reactions, "Come on kids, you heard brace-face." she reminded them with a little smirk, "Out to the yard."

Ruth, now just outside the doors, rolled her eyes at Helga, "I haven't had braces since I was in the seventh grade." she whined, knowing it would do no good, once Helga gave you a nickname it was permanent.

Curiously, Eleanor had now waddled out after them; leaving the toys she had quietly been amusing herself with in the far corner of the living room, in favour of watching the strange happenings in her own backyard.

Once she reached her parents, the small girl squeezed between them and took one of their hands each. Arnold, the younger one, now understood why she had done that to him and the younger Helga earlier on, because they reminded her of her parents. And, at that thought, he couldn't help but smile.

"Is here okay, Helga?" Ruth asked, settling the ducks down in the middle of the grassed area, not too far from the swimming pool

"Hey, why isn't anybody asking me?" the future Arnold protested, "This my house too!"

Nobody seemed to take that entirely seriously, however, because Gerald simply laughed at him and Ruth went ahead and released the ducks.

Helga patted his shoulder, "Course it is, Football Head." she assured her husband kindly, "But I call the shots and you know it."

"Helgwa Gee Pitawki is in charge, bucko!" came the voice of a small, but surprisingly _loud_, little girl in between her two parents.

Arnold of the future blinked, and stared down at his daughter in absolute shock. "Helga!" he turned wide-eyed to his wife, "What did you teach her?" but all he received from her in response was a little smirk and a shrug.

Younger Helga laughed, in that rare honest way that didn't happen all too often, "Best kid _ever_." she announced.

Stinky, over by the swimming pool and surrounded by a small group of ducks, finished tying together a small bunch of fern branches and now looked up and over to the three kids. "Righty, past-dwellers, come stand under this here fern tree." he called them over.

Looking at each other dubiously, uncertain whether this plan would actually work, they _weren't_ in Tina Park after all, the three younger kids made their underneath Stinky's makeshift tree.

Arnold immediately felt a strange rushing feeling, the sight of a duck heading directly for them once more and that burning light engulfing the area. "No pressure guys, but don't mess up the future!" he heard the future Gerald call out to them as everything turned bright white once again.


	17. Home Sweet Home

Arnold groaned, whatever surface he was currently lying on was uncomfortable, and he rolled around a little in an attempt to find a more comfortable position when he realised somebody was looking down at him.

"Grandpa?" he managed to grumble out, rubbing his tired eyes and blinking.

Chuckles came from the old man, "Sure is, short man." he confirmed, raising an eyebrow at his grandson, "Took a trip to the future, eh?"

Arnold was going to question how he could possibly know that, or why they had apparently ended up back at the Boarding House, on the kitchen floor no less, when a stirring noise beside him distracted his original thoughts.

Helga blinked a few times, slowly sitting up in a complete daze and obviously trying to figure out where on earth she was.

"Good morning, Eleanor!" came Grandma's voice from a nearby room, causing Helga to startle and freeze in her half-upright position.

Grandma walked into the kitchen seconds later, and once again Arnold was wondering just _how_ his grandparents seemed to know what was happening without even being there, or without being in the same room.

Instead, he chose to question something else a little odd about his Grandmothers observation, "_Eleanor_?"

"Why yes, the First lady herself!" his Grandmother responded, now pulling frying pans from the kitchen cabinets, and looking over toward Helga with great interest, "Shall I make your usual, Ms Roosevelt?"

Arnold might have been imagining things, but he swore Helga sounded close to hyperventilating at this point, so he decided to revert to a previous question, rather than leaving her to answer his Grandmother about breakfast.

"Uh, how long have we been lying here?" he asked his Grandfather, who had himself been rather distracted by the comments from his wife.

"Oh, right." the old man frowned, "Hour or two, maybe three."

At that moment, Gerald began to roll around a little on the kitchen floor. After shuffling to his feet and looking over at everyone else, he frowned, "How'd we end up at the Boarding House?"

Arnold shook his head, "I'm not sure." he admitted, looking to his Grandpa curiously, just in case _he_ knew why.

Grandpa shrugged, although Arnold was sure he probably _did_ know, he was beginning to realise his grandparents were rather 'crafty', "That's what you get for messing with the schematics of time, kids!" was all offered in the way of possible explanation.

Eyeing everybody carefully one last time, Gerald spoke up again, "So, we agree that we _never_ speak of this... right?" he checked.

Helga, for the very first time since their re-arrival in the present, spoke up, "Right." she agreed, her eyes still wide with fear, "_Never_ again."

"Good." Gerald responded awkwardly, looking at her as though he was unsure where to go from here. Helga, at this point, now had her eyes firmly fixed to the floor and it didn't look like she was going to be talking again anytime soon.

"Alright, alright, get yourselves off home for dinner kids." Grandpa now instructed them, probably sensing the absolute dead-end they had arrived at, "Unless you wanted to stay here for di-"

"NO!" came the shout in unison from both Gerald and Helga, both looking equally horrified by the idea of prolonging this strange situation. Arnold had to admit, he completely agreed.

Gerald cleared his throat, and stepped forward toward Arnold, "I'll see you later man." he said, putting out his hand for their secret handshake.

Arnold placed his hand by Gerald's, finishing the customary goodbye with his best friend. "See ya, Gerald." he smiled, as Gerald made a beeline for the front door, presumably on his way home for a well-needed rest.

Turning back around, Arnold was surprised to see that Helga was nowhere to be seen. Actually, she had completely disappeared without a trace, and Grandpa was simply chuckling to himself over the other side of the room.

"So, Arnold." Grandpa began, clearly not willing to enlighten Arnold on Helga's miraculous escape, "What was the future like, eh?"

Arnold smiled and took a seat at the kitchen table, "Good." he assured him,"Really good."

His grandmother waved the frying pan she was still holding at him, "Now, now Tex, news on the prairie is hard to come by." she warned, "Give us word of the foals."

"I _think_..." Grandpa cut-in, scratching his head a little at his wife's terminology, "what Pookie means is, did ya give us any great-grandchildren? And if not, _why not boy_?"

Arnold smiled, "Uh, yeah, I had a daughter." he revealed, albeit a little awkwardly, because he _was_ only ten and it was strange to think he'd met his own daughter already.

The old man leaned across the table with great interest, his chin resting in his hands, "Well, what's her _name_?" he asked, putting great emphasis on the final word.

"Eleanor." Arnold said simply, not at all prepared for the uproar he was about to cause.

All he could do was stare, sit there and stare, as his grandparents danced circles around the kitchen, and his Grandmother, somehow, found confetti to toss into the air.

"Oh thank the good lord!" his Grandfather exclaimed halfway through spinning his wife around the room.

With a similar level of enthusiasm, although sightly distracted by the colourful sprinkling of paper now raining down over the table, his Grandmother gave him a nod, "Nice work, Tex." she assured him.

Arnold blinked... they'd known _all along_.

* * *

**A/N: **Next chapter is the end of the story... who's excited? :)


	18. No Wonder

Arnold Shortman, one month after his impromptu trip into the future, meandered his way through the corridors of PS118. Halfway toward his locker, his bright green eyes rested upon the door labelled '_Janitors Closet'_ and that strange fuzzy feeling shot through him again. Simply looking in the general direction of the room made him feel strange, and made a distinct blush rise in his cheeks, and he hadn't even _done_ anything in there. It was simply that he knew he was apparently supposed to.

Averting his gaze from the door, and trying to control his blush, Arnold noticed the bright blonde of a certain classmates hair. Helga, who was heading the opposite direction up the hallway, was also staring at the closet with wide eyes, looking plain terrified by the whole thing. Silently, she passed him by, with no insults, no scowl, no threats... absolutely nothing. It had been this way ever since they returned; she wouldn't even look him in the eye anymore.

Sometimes, he wondered if this situation was exactly what the future Helga was concerned about, that their prior knowledge of the future would change everything. Sure, there were benefits to wanting to change things, change was good if you didn't like something very much but Arnold happened to _like_ his future a lot. A whole lot.

Deciding he was a bold kid, and a determined one at that, he took that very moment in time to change directions and march directly over to Helga, who was thankfully walking by herself.

"Arnold!" she cried out as he pulled her gently toward the closet, "Let me go!"

Arnold decided not to answer that, just in case talking might make him chicken out, and instead he continued to lead her to their intended destination. She pulled back, tried to resist a few times, but overall allowed him to take her where he pleased.

Finally reaching the confines of the closet, a trip that seemed so much longer than it truly was when his heart was beating a mile a minute, Arnold closed the door behind them and turned to look at Helga.

"Nobody drags Helga G. Pataki into her _own office_." she growled immediately, seeming to regain her senses now that his hand wasn't wrapped around her wrist, "What do you have to say for yourself Football H-"

Arnold honestly had no idea what he was doing, but he wasn't about to let her keep talking, so with all the courage he could muster he pushed his lips to hers. Helga, in response, froze and little and let out a squeak in surprise.

"YES!" cried out a voice from behind them, just seconds into the kiss, with Helga still completely motionless.

Arnold spun quickly to see Gerald staring at him and Helga intently, whilst Helga did her best to hide the incredible blush that was now evident on her face.

"Seriously," Gerald continued on, "I've been checking in here every day for the past month, I was starting to get worried."

Knowing he probably should have asked something like _why_ Gerald was so intent on witnessing this moment that he had literally checked the closet every day for a month, Arnold instead let out a stunned, "Uh, Gerald, you're supposed to be freaked out." because, well, right now he was _really_ determined for everything to go exactly like it was supposed to.

Gerald's eyes lit up, "Of course!" he exclaimed, "What do I do?"

"Run to the cafeteria screaming, '_when is this nightmare going to end_'... and call Arnold every night for the next week asking if this was a dream" Helga spoke up from the back of the closet, stepping forward a little and observing Gerald with extreme caution, and then adding sharply, "And make it snappy hair boy!"

Bowing down dramatically, Gerald nodded, "Anything for you, Mrs Shortman." he chuckled, then ran out into the hallways with his best 'petrified and in denial' face, ready to explode into the cafeteria shouting nonsense.

Arnold looked back at Helga, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Um, so what now?"

"We, um, keep doing this for the next five years?" Helga shrugged, "And then, we go to the jungle."

Stupid jungle, he really didn't want to think about it right now, think about how it was going to steal three years of his teenage life from him. Of course, the finding his parents part made him dizzy with happiness, but, if it meant losing Helga for a while, he could definitely wait five more years.

"Right." he smiled at her in response, before glancing back at the door that had just shut behind his best friend, "So, Gerald's going to come back soon probably, you know, to laugh at us again..."

Helga nodded, but didn't speak, she was really close to him again and he could smell the strong scent of vanilla. Arnold decided to put vanilla on his new list of favourite things.

"So, in the meantime we should probably, um..." he tried to continue but she was way too close, and she smelled way too good.

This time, when his lips met hers, she responded almost immediately. In fact, he almost lost his balance entirely when he felt Helga's lips moving against his. For the first time, he was experiencing how it felt to _mutually_ kiss Helga G, Pataki.

_Wow_, he thought to himself,_ no wonder I married her._

* * *

**The End.**


End file.
